Domination
by aryastark93
Summary: Welcome to Hueco Mundo! Follow a human test subject to explore the world where Spanish is the official language and the Espada spend more time on boring meetings than on fighting. Apparently, there were some problems with the local government, but it's old news and now let's just pretend that no such thing has ever taken place. Oh, there's also a romance somewhere...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:

I do not own Bleach, no copyright infringement intended, etc...

There are a couple of OCs in this fanfic and most of them were inspired by the real people. Sara is based on my former boss, Jezebel – on a contestant from The Next Top Model franchise, etc.

Chapter I

It was not a typical awakening. She was expecting her custom alarm clock, a ring based on the musical theme from her favourite strategic game. Instead of the characteristic sound, as well as the vanilla-coloured ceiling and champagne walls, she was faced with a room without any windows, having cool and clinical feel. Since it was evident that something was wrong, her sight and other senses instantly sharpened, trying to grasp the unusual situation.

She had a more detailed look at the space, which was probably an infirmary. Grey tiles covering the floor and the smaller, mint ones on the walls, topped with dirty white paint on the ceiling produced mainly medical associations. However, the tough, metal door equipped with electronic access control did not fit the images of a hospital that her mind brought up.

 _I don't recall that our district hospital could afford such safeguards._

She continued her observations as the feeling that the situation was definitely not an ordinary one was intensifying. Apparently, she was awake after a nap on a cushioned seat, which was connected by cables with the wardrobe-like apparatus she could not make a head or tail of. Because she was not bound to the chair in any way, she decided to cautiously get off. No alarm or a signal of any kind was activated when her bare feet touched the cold floor and she moved closer to the machinery, which was resembling her the equipment of a dentist's practice.

However, after a closer glance, it was obvious that the use of this equipage must be entirely different. The readings on the screen have not told her anything, similarly as the rest of the features in this impersonal room. In the trash can, she found a torn paper piece of a label usually attached to tubes of hypodermic tablets. She immediately recognized the hormone _Medroxyprogesteroni acetas_ as the main ingredient, which was an inevitable clue.

 _Is it possible that...?_

It was certainly worrying. As the inspection of the equipment in the room didn't move her forward in assessing what actually happened to her, she decided to shift the focus onto herself.

Her clothes were gone, including the underwear. She was wearing greying, overstretched and overlong shirt. This attire made her mind whisper unpleasantly how uncovering various pieces of the puzzle clearly suggested that she had undergone some kind of surgery in a sordid, probably illegal hospital.

 _Organ traffickers!_

She envisioned one more possible explanation, quickly searching for clues that could confirm or reject this hypothesis.

 _Or an overzealous plastic surgeon... Let's see if there's a mirror somewhere here._

Behind a pillar, she found a small sink, above which someone had hung a modest, rectangular-shaped piece of glass, reflecting her forehead and hair-do. Evidently, the arrangement was adapted to a person taller than her, so she had to stand on the balls of her feet to see how she looks like.

Feeling a great sense of relief, she affirmed that nothing has changed in this respect. An oval-shaped face, a bit pale, porcelain skin, light pink lips, a straight nose, and rather large, round green eyes with distinct whites. Without the make-up, her blonde eyelashes seemed almost invisible, contrasting with brown eyebrows, giving her delicate features a bit of unexpected impact. No wounds were seen, although her small scar and a horizontal wrinkle on the forehead were not removed, either.

She touched her hair to make sure it had not been transplanted or replaced by a wig, but nothing indicated such course of events. Her hair-do was identical as in the last moments that she could recall before ending in this atrocious infirmary. She ran her fingers through her blonde locks and swept them on one side, so they fell on her arm. Although already in her late twenties, her armpit-length, wavy hair and angelic face made her look younger and more innocent than she really was.

Continuing inspection, she rolled up her shirt and gave her belly a penetrating gaze. No signs of fresh wounds or stitches were reassuring, but she saw traces of the three recent injections, which she found disturbing. Then she glanced at her shoulders and under the left sleeve there was another hole as a remainder after puncturing. She frowned, thinking about the conclusions she could draw and because they were neither specific nor favourable, she went to investigate the room again.

On the table, she found a tablet with an application running, not secured by any password. She picked it up and began to study it, settling back in her chair. Judging by the contents of the application, it had to be notes. Unfortunately, because they were written in Spanish with some occasional Latin terms, they didn't proof particularly helpful. She was scrolling down the text until something caught her eye. Someone wrote her name, accompanied by the description, which – despite lack of her understanding of the language – she could decipher flawlessly.

 _"Sara Morgenstern – strategist, researcher, analyst, IT auditor. Highly developed leadership skills. Spell breaker (?), influencing (?)"_

She puzzled reading the last note with question marks and tried to find some hints in the Spanish paragraph underneath.

"Have you finally woken up?"

In the doorway stood a young man, who should be roughly the same age as she was. He was dressed in white from head to toe, wearing a uniform, which could pass him off as a doctor or a nurse. The fitted top had three vertical seams, accented with black fabric – one running from the collar down and two turning under both armpits. Dark lines also outlined the edges of an elongated collar and his knuckles, covered by white gloves. To match this eccentric shirt, the visitor wore hakama, whose length was cut to mid-calf, and were put under a lab coat with large pockets, or actually under its lower part. Flat, black-and-white shoes, and white socks with straps under the feet completed this strange attire.

He certainly didn't ask this question purely out of concern. His light brown, almost amber eyes stared at her coldly and contemptuously, and his mouth was twisted in a smile full of superiority.

She knew who it was. According to an accurate description included in his notes she was, inter alia, a researcher. And an analyst. Furthermore, a team manager, her main professions being the enterprise risk management, cyber security and forensics. Although currently she was on extended leave due to structural changes in the company, where she worked full-time, she wasted no time to make use of her plentiful talents. As a spiritually-aware being, she was a subcontractor of the Soul Society. One of her previous mandates was gathering information related to the topic of "hollowfication of souls." The issue was similar to vampirism, which she covered some time ago for a different group of stakeholders. Those two dangerous procedures encompassed halting natural death and performing revival of the dead as zombies, vampires or hollows, or "empty souls." All these creatures preyed on humans as their main source of nutrition.

This man was a high-class hollow, Vasto Lorde, or rather an arrancar - that is, the one whose mask was broken, and the original power sealed in a sword. As a consequence, they could adapt human form, but not without exceptions. A hollow hole still remained somewhere on their bodies, signifying their lack of heart. In addition, the mask, being a source of power, did not disappear completely, but a part of it was still fused with a new, seemingly human body. Remains of the hollow mask of the arrancar standing in front of her looked relatively harmless, like a pair of spectacles without lenses, with thick, rectangular frames made of bone. The woman seemed aware, however, that it is virtually indestructible reservoir of his power.

The third characteristic of the arrancar were the _estigma_ , or markings, usually resembling colourful tattoos, in most cases located in the facial area. They would not necessarily manifest in human form, sometimes they appeared only after releasing their true power or would be visible merely as peculiar pigmentation. Sara's captor did not have any apparent signs of these, but his eyes were unnaturally bright, and neck-length, loose hair was in an intense shade of strawberry blonde, bordering on pink.

Although he looked more like a mad cosplayer than a doctor, his entrance into the infirmary paralyzed her by fear. Instinct immediately advised her to put the tablet – presumably his property – back on the table. She also hastily pulled the shirt on the thighs, as if suddenly it occurred to her that there is nothing underneath.

"You don't need to pretend an innocent maiden" he said nonchalantly, walking over to her.

He leaned on one of the wires hanging from the ceiling and looked her straight in the face.

She guessed he found it entertaining to stare at her frightened expression. She was aware that her fate has just intertwined with an intelligent, methodical opponent, and at the same time, a hollow, a dead creature, incapable of empathy, compassion or mercy. Posing as a terrified damsel in distress wouldn't change his approach, because he wouldn't be touched by her vulnerability. The only successful strategy she was able to think of on the spur of the moment, was to play his game. And play hardball, offering mockery for mockery, malice for malice. And a lie for a lie.

"Have you become a more versatile researcher than it is rumoured?" she asked, looking at him defiantly, sitting up on as much as the 'dental' chair allowed her.

The beginnings were supposed to be difficult. He didn't seem to be impressed at the slightest.

"To achieve the desired effect of my research, I had to exclude pregnancy and other random factors", he replied in a tone as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "You may have noticed that you got a special injection to prevent such problems... But I see that although we haven't met before, you don't expect me to introduce myself. Do you know me?"

Sara made a deduction that the tablet full of notes in Spanish must have belonged to him. The arrancar spoke perfect English, without a hint of a foreign accent. He did not try to communicate with her in his native language, as if he knew she has never learned Spanish. Although this fact had suggested that her presence in the laboratory is not accidental and probably something nasty awaited her, it simplified the communication. Sara's English was fluent, so she felt confident by being fully understood by the other party.

"Of course I know who you are" she said haughtily, as if displeased that anyone might have thought otherwise. "Your name is Szayelaporro Granz. You specialise, among others, in research and development of weapons based on the spiritual energy. As an arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army, you're Espada number eight, a title which is corresponding to an officer commanding a brigade of fraccion."

He grinned.

"Well, well, it looks like this time I got smarter kind of people to experiment on. This gives your race a slight hope, Sara Morgenstern. Do you know where we are?"

She thought for a moment.

"It must be the Las Noches base in Hueco Mundo, dimension inhabited by the hollows" she recited smoothly from the material she had collected during her research for the shinigami. "It's probably the laboratory."

He tilted his head to the right.

"Not bad. And what do you think shall happen to you?"

There was deceit concealed by his friendly tone.

"You will kill me."

She tried her best to answer in a neutral tone, but instead of her own voice, she heard one so devoid of any emotion that seemed inhumane. In response Szayelaporro laughed, and this sound alone made her shiver. This outburst had nothing to do with glee, but instead she realised she fell into the hands of a ruthless killer.

"I haven't made the final decision on this matter yet" he continued. "There are a lot of factors to be considered... such as, among others, your attitude and willingness to cooperate."

She raised her eyebrows.

"What kind of cooperation we are talking about?"

"We would not decide on that during a conversation, but based on what I can get from you. I started with genetic material, because it's the simplest exercise. I extracted quite a few samples that will help me to study your DNA and separate the gene sequences encoding the features that I'm going to duplicate in new weapons or defense mechanisms, or other creations."

"But you do realise it doesn't make much sense" she dared to protest. "I read the diagnosis and that passage about what you want to study. These are not innate traits, but skills. I wasn't born being a charismatic leader and a strategist, nor was I a child familiar with the technology. You won't see the evidence of any of those in my DNA. To say that someone has mastered a certain skill, you need to observe an individual when they are using it. And not when the other party lies unconscious in an infirmary."

"Are you suggesting, then, that only empirical methods lead to positive results?" he asked, smiling devilishly "At the same time, you try to persuade me to release you and give you a carte blanche. Clever. I must, however, disappoint you, as at this stage of the study I expect from you only the passive form of cooperation. That's why I blocked all your latent spiritual powers..."

 _That's news to me. I didn't know I have any_ , she thought, but did not make any comment aloud.

"...also for the sake of your safety" the arrancar went on. "Some of the spiritual activities overly activate endocrine glands, and excess hormones are extracted into blood, which – as you probably know – may cause various undesirable side effects. Besides, unhealthy excitement may have an adverse effect on the patient, who is to undergo anesthesia. There are cases when the patent was awake during an operation performed under general anesthesia. They are fully conscious and fully able to feel the dreadful pain of the operation they are undergoing. At the same time, due to the administration of the muscle paralyzing drugs, person can't move, can't speak, and can't breathe. They are not able to interrupt the process in any way, either by moving away or verbally communicating the issue. I understand that you wouldn't want to experience it, would you?"

"You understand correctly" she admitted coldly.

"Therefore," he continued with a slight amusement in his voice "listen to me carefully. I'm in the course of research on your genetic material. Now I know that I'll need additional samples, but with a higher degree of purity. Over the past years, your body has been absorbing lots of toxic substances, mainly as a side effect of digesting highly processed foods that you people eat on a regular basis. I cannot believe anyone could deliberately consume this garbage, which gradually defiles body, slows down metabolism and cause natural capabilities for regeneration and reproduction to disappear."

"I doubt I'd survive on absorbing hollows instead" she said.

"So maybe the detox will convince you to change your diet?" he joked. "My guess is that it will not be a pleasant experience for you, but let's not jump to conclusions right now. When the phase of collecting the material and its preliminary analysis is completed, we'll go for further tests... of course, if you will live to this stage. People are not known for strong design physical and mental. I hope you were not, because I already have enough humans as semi-regular garbage in my lab. One thing is certain: if you succeed, it means that you are worthy of my attention."

She snorted softly. In response, the Espada wagged his finger at her.

"Soon you will begin to appreciate the fact that I spend so much of my precious time with you. Make no mistake, it's not that I can't throw you in the rubbish..."

All of a sudden, before she could even blink, he grabbed a syringe from his pocket and made a quick injection of a sedative-hypnotic drug. His words and laughter were still echoing in her head, when with every passing moment her consciousness was tearing apart.

The following days either melted into oblivion or were longing mercilessly. Most of the time Sara was asleep and barely registered if the next day already passed. When she realised how many hours and days she spent unconscious, she was overwhelmed by panic because she could not recall the current date. Depressive thoughts were attacking her savagely, stimulating nerves and not allowing to fall asleep.

During those moments, the pain was the most intense. Traces of injections itched like mosquito bites. Drip immobilized her left arm in an awkward position, keeping the muscles tense and increasing pressure on the joints. She also clearly felt the effects of the multiple use of extractors, most probably the aftermath of inputting and removing of small pipes discharging saliva, urine and feces.

She could not remember if she got anything to eat and drink, but did not feel hunger or dehydration. She was weak and her head ached, although most likely it was a deliberate effect of malnutrition, so that she would not protest too vigorously against treatment she received. She tried to swallow characteristic, foul, chemical taste that seemed to be all over her mouth and throat. Attempting to overcome even such small nuances proved futile.

Stale air in this small cell was soaked with smell of antiseptics mixed with the stench of what she recognized as her own excrement and vomit. She had no doubt that each time before the Espada went there to perform his research, he had someone to clean and ventilate the room, while the rest was like the cardboard and the tinsel, and the painted cloth. All were parts of a clever act played to make her feel abandoned and neglected. To make her think of herself like a piece of junk that no one cares about. All to make her lost faith in herself. And finally to break her completely.

Therefore, even though deep down she was terrified to the core about what is going to happen next, every time the mad scientist woke her up, she greeted him with the cynic remarks and a bunch of lies and the worst kind of show-off. When one day he laughed at her questionable joke, she felt petrified and almost got her bold camouflage torn into pieces.

 _I have to be strong,_ she told herself. _I have to stay conscious and my free will has to emerge, because these are the key factors to survive here. If I just go with the flow, most probably I'll get lost in madness and I'll never see the daylight..._

Szayelaporro checked the readings and made notes using a tablet, while surreptitiously watching her tensed mimic, an act on instinct to hide the fear she felt under the skin. His young, handsome face was not showing any emotion. Sara tried not to pay him much attention, instead repeating a mantra to herself, in order to pluck up the courage and stop being so scared.

 _I have to be stronger than I've ever been before... and I cannot be afraid._

She closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift away. She recalled the sounds of music that usually helped her to calm down in stressful situations. When the imagination brought up melodies filled with her pleasant memories, she tried to relax, and instead of focusing on how hopeless was her position, started thinking what she should do to improve it a little bit.

 _I need to find allies who'll help me to move the things forward in my favour. So eventually I'll find a way to return home. Yes, but... easier said than done. Who could stand by my side in the world full of hollows? Would any arrancar be so stupid? Well, I'll call them stupid until they see more benefit in simply eating me. Or maybe I'll disguise myself. I'll paint a black hole with my waterproof mascara and glue a cracked tea set to my head as the remains of the mask. Then put some eye shadow as the estigma. Surely I'll get everyone fooled._

She laughed to herself. A subtle irony helped her to quit with the gloomy outlook of the things and she let her imagination go and do its best.

 _Courage should be my first ally. I don't have too much to lose, because even if I side with Las Espadas, the chances that I'll get out of here alive, are close to zero. It's worth trying what I can get by demonstrating that I'm not afraid and continue this bluff... Only if I could function like a normal human being, without this medical equipment around me..._

"I'm going to finish this phase soon" Szayelaporro's voice broke the silence so unexpectedly that it seemed to be loud like a cannon shot. His words could suggest he was reading her thoughts. "Based on the last sample, I concluded there is no need to spend more time on further preparations. Just the last stroke of a brush and this step is completed. I guess this is a reason to be pleased, isn't it?"

"Most certainly" she said in a tone making clear that she was thinking exactly the opposite.

He smiled in a strangely sympathetic fashion.

"I'm very pleased that the specimen seized not without any difficulties is suitable for more advanced testing. The results of previous studies are very promising and simply cannot wait to get to know you even better."

"And I can't wait for the results of this pompously announced processed foods rehab campaign or whatever you called it" she murmured in response. "It wasn't fun at all, so I hope that at least the effect is worth it."

"It remains to be seen. You are now on the final lap and everything depends solely on you – or, to be more specific – on how much you will be interested in primarily demonstrating your animosity, and not cooperating. You seem to be a bright person, so I'm counting on you to draw the correct conclusions from what I've just said."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was the first test of courage. A test of prowess she wanted to awaken in herself.

"I know exactly what kind of fate awaits me. What do you think I should do now? Start hysterising? Curse my fate and you? Batter the research equipment? I don't feel like wasting my time and energy, because after all, my opinion doesn't matter at all. And if I can't modify your plans, does it also mean that I can't even laugh them off?"

He snorted softly.

"You are here to entertain me and not vice versa, but I'm not going to argue with you about this trifle. I have important information for you: as from today I'll stop those giving you sedatives. Try to use these short breaks to rest before the next series of tests. I suppose it would be a good advice for you at this stage. Think about it. Adiós."

When he left, she allowed herself a quiet sigh. She knew about the constant monitoring of the laboratory by the omnipresent cameras, integrated with the construction installation, so she had to be cautious about certain reflexes. In other words, self-control and almost absent body language were necessary to hide as much personal details as she could. The less the Espada knows about her, the harder it will be to find the means to break her.

She figured out that without any pharmacological assistance it would be difficult to fall asleep on the spot, but just having the rest was also an advantage.

 _By the way, how ironic is to call the treatment 'a detox', when one of its integral elements is to stuff me with drugs..._

She was pondering about what was currently happening in the human world and how her family and friends reacted to her sudden disappearance. On the other hand, as it seemed more or less fruitless, she turned her attention into looking for possible solutions. The circumstances were, unfortunately, not very favourable as at that moment she could not possibly implemented any of the considered alternatives.

She did not have any tools at her disposal to inform anyone about her location or alert the shinigami. She thought about taking advantage of Szayelaporro's absence and trying to use his portable devices for communication. The downside was that although they looked like the electronics being in use in the human world, she expected difficulties in adjusting to the alien technology. Before she would be able to understand their mechanics, the Espada most probably might quickly realize what is on her mind.

And then he would make sure that she would not even consider a similar idea again, even if the circumstances were asking for it. And Sara would find herself once again at the starting point.

She yawned.

 _If I temporarily play his game... maybe I would be able to trick him into feeling a false sense of security and then try to gain more freedom? New opportunities... Various alternatives... I'll deal with all of them... when the time is right..._

After a while she effortlessly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

Sara felt that a kind of a turning point came after about a week later, when she got the permission to take a bath. Previously there was no other option than to refrain from scratching pimples forming on her greasy face or from pulling her hair out of itchy scalp or from feeling utterly disgusted with herself and her body, smelling of a mixture of sweat, dirt and antiseptics.

Two tall and thin hollows of a humanoid-like appearance led her to a small, almost microscopic bathroom. Their walk passed in the midst of absolute silence, during which she was afraid even to breathe deeply. The guards left her in a vestibule of some sort, demonstrating her door, which was hidden behind the illusion. It led to a blind room, which again evoked associations with the hospital.

 _Well, at least here I don't see any syringes, tubes and drips..._

Having this dubious consolation in mind, she walked barefoot on the floor made of white, matte tiles to wash her hands at the sink, which was not much wider than both of her palms. She had a look at herself in the mirror – or, actually, in a rectangular piece of glass, hanging on the wall without any frame, shelf or other ornaments. It was not a pleasant sight. She thought that her pasty, sallow complexion with red spots and greasy hair would make more sensitive people puke.

 _And this was supposed to be the detox?_ she doubted. _Señor Espada must have messed something up. If he was going to remove toxins from my body, then I should look like a miss universe, not like a Frankenstein._

Without deliberating about it too much, she took off her shirt and stopped in the last moment before throwing it away. Except for the towel, there was not a piece of cloth in the bathroom, so it would be a bit reckless to get rid of it. Although the sheer fabric didn't cover much, it allowed her to maintain at least a semblance of decency. Wearing this shirt made the feeling of walking naked around the lab not that striking.

She put the smelly shirt on a hanger and stepped into the shower, which was as simple as the rest of the equipment. There was no cabin or any partitions. The area where a person should stand in order to take a bath was marked with slightly sunken floor. A discreet panel on the wall was used to control the unit.

When the water ran down her body, she felt as if it washed away the humiliation she went through, especially intolerable lack of knowledge about what was actually going on. How far went the war preparations in Hueco Mundo? Was the invasion of hollows a fact or was it merely during the planning phase? She would also give a lot for an opportunity to warn the Soul Society, though the shinigami might have already found out that something is afoot, using their abilities and intelligence. Hopefully, other information trading brokers reacted quickly enough to buy the humans time necessary to set up a proper defense strategy.

During the bath she did not care whether the hidden cameras were also installed in the bathroom and if Szayelaporro was watching her, and how much he was enjoying it. The most important thing was making herself clean and in a way that did not strip her of the rest of her dignity.

 _Who would have thought that the simplest things can bring so much joy..._

Hot water and steam filling the small room made her feel a bit dizzy.

 _Enough,_ she ordered herself. _I know this is not my last stop. I have to prepare for the next challenges, which certainly are waiting for me._

After leaving the bathroom, she saw an interior completely different from what it was before, as if she exited on to the other side of the magic mirror. Overwhelmed by disbelief, she set one foot on the gray carpet, which she found surprisingly soft.

Sara entered a small bedroom, furnished with a bed, a chest of drawers and an empty desk without any chair to sit on. On the wall on the opposite side of the bed, there was a large closet with sliding doors. And although the corner of her eye caught a glance of another door, the first thing she did was to carefully examine the contents of this area. There was absolutely nothing on and inside the desk (even a millimeter of dust), while the closet contained a dozen or so white uniforms put on matching hangers. The chest was a surprise as Sara discovered the underwear sets, all in the shades of nude. With even greater amazement she found copies of her own underclothing and many replicas in the same size. Because this discovery meant she can stop wearing the dirty rag, she threw it into a corner of the closet with evident satisfaction. She wrapped it in foil, so that the other clothes would not hold onto the unpleasant smell.

White uniform comprised an asymmetrical tunic with three-quarter sleeves, v-neck and extended back, resembling swallow-tails and matching trousers with tapered legs. Side seams of the tunic and the one at the front as well as the hems of sleeves and legs were marked with thin strips of black matte leather. The tunic seemed to be tailored to achieve a perfect fit, highlighting her slender, feminine figure, and trousers, despite a challenging colour and style did not change her into a whale. The fabric was pleasant to touch, yet thick enough not to be see-through.

In addition, she found several sets of shoulder-length gloves in case she wanted to protect wrists and forearms. She quickly noted to herself the fingertips had different texture and when she put them on, she immediately understood why. All of them were properly adapted to operate the touch screens.

She lacked only shoes to dress from head to toe, and found those at the bottom of the closet in a separate compartment. Again she was flabbergasted as she was allowed to choose among several pairs in her size. After a brief deliberation, she picked up jodhpur boots with slightly higher than average heels. In contrast to her new outfit, shoes were black with white accents. She put them on atop short, black socks.

The boots were made of a flexible, but strong material and the inner coating was softly padded. Sara was marveling the feeling that none of the shoes she wore in the human world could give. She immediately noticed the toecaps, suitable for kicks, but due to her experience in dance, she instantly thought about ballet and even tried to stand _en pointe_ , stretching out her arms straight up to the ceiling.

She had not been practicing ballet technique for several years now, and what is more, her current weight - although she always used to be slim, she had never come close to how emaciated the professional dancers were - was against exercises in pointe shoes, so further studying the limitations of her body and the execution of an arabesque was definitely too challenging. Paradoxically, however, this unsuccessful position gave her a burst energy. She felt truly liberated, although she was still trapped in the laboratory in an alien world. It was the first step to break free, to swim against the current imposed by her psychopathic 'guardian'.

She straightened up proudly and proceeded to further inspection.

The next room was a self-styled workshop. The rectangular space was different from the private quarters as it was covered in tiles: black ones on the floor and teal on the walls. Behind her, on one of the shorter walls there was a door to her bedroom, and in the opposite corner – presumably a way out into the corridor, protected by a mechanism seeming too complex to be figured out right away. The remaining space was filled with minimalist cabinets with solid glossy dark gray surfaces, leaning against the walls, resembling her own kitchen a bit. There were two sets of exactly identical, smoothly polished cuboids. Lower tier was topped with honed granite counters. The second tier of polyhedrons was placed slightly above and finished almost at the same height as the ceiling. Both of them devoid of any indication of what they do. She could not see any handles or remote controls that could open them.

The space in the middle was left empty, but Sara thought it was done on purpose, because in a short distance from the center she noticed minor marks on the tiles, as if these pieces could be separated. But for the time being, she had no idea what it might mean in practice, and focused back on the cabinet, as called for simplicity in mind these regular solids - mostly because it reminded her of setting your kitchen.

Lost in her musings, she barely registered a metallic click, announcing opening the outer door. Szayelaporro walked in, accompanied by two of his hollow servants, heaving big box. She moved closer to the exit, in order to have a better view of what is going on in the hallway.

"Well, well, I can tell this place already feels like a home for you" he commented, throwing discreet glances from side to side as if he was wondering whether she had guessed the secrets behind the surroundings, then turned his attention to her.

His eyes scanned her attentively and whatever he has just seen, it must have been satisfactory, since he smiled slightly, and it seemed to Sara, the grimace had something obscene about it. She found it very difficult to remain still when she wanted to roll her eyes. She realised it has to be about the monitoring in the bathroom. She was not embarrassed, rather amused, but tried to hide it. She did not want her sudden burst of high spirits to be spotted by the enemy.

 _This guy may be a brilliant scientist and a hollow, but he cannot ignore the nature and will remain primarily a man. Dead, but also a horny, perverted man. Fortunately for me, due to location of his hollow hole, he would be forced stop to somewhere in the realm of his sick fantasies._

"Oh, señor Granz, what an honor" she replied with an unnatural, theatrical emphasis. "What have I done to deserve it?"

He pondered conspicuously.

"Haven't you noticed that your quarters lack one important component? As for me, I could leave you here and not lift a finger, but humans" he almost spat the word "as mortal creatures, without the food become utterly useless and eventually die."

He approached her, stopping just next to her, resting one hand on the counter, leaning slightly in her direction, so that she needn't have to keep looking up to maintain eye contact. She felt bizarre, having an arrancar, a dangerous and vile creature in front of her, knowing that additionally he was carefully watching her and analyzing her every move. Although frightened, she did not turn away, neither lowered her eyes, considering that he would recognise it as a sign of weakness.

Meanwhile, the Espada used his free hand to make a gesture directed to the two hollows.

"Lumina. Verona," he spoke to them. "Bring the cargo here and leave it where I showed you. It would be much appreciated if you don't damage the contents. Otherwise, our guest" he shot a quick glance towards her "will be greatly displeased."

Relaxed, full of energy and free from the influence of drugs, she had to objectively admit that the man standing in front of her, despite being mean and cruel, was quite attractive. Sara liked intellectuals with whom she could discuss any extraordinary topic and who tend to challenge her sharp, analytical mind. Szayelaporro seemed to match her type. At first glance, despite being an Espada, he did not appear to be a stereotypical hollow warrior, who uses the brute force at every opportunity.

His features were rather delicate, with a thin nose and a somewhat weak jaw. With remains of the hollow mask looking just like a fashionable pair of spectacles, with his cultural expression and gentle voice, he did not stand out as a hollow. The image of an arrancar was complemented by expressive amber eyes, surrounded by long eyelashes, adding shady appearance to his gaze.

At the same time, she knew that she should not judge the book by its cover and automatically regard scientist as harmless on the sole basis of his looks. He could have seemed slightly underweight for his height, but it was not like he hasn't had any defined muscle and certainly he did not carry a katana with him for fun. Despite his appearance of a smoothly shaved dandy who accidentally started working out at the gym, his aura was filled with pure horror. Sara regarded him with a mixture of awe, respect and a slight touch of antagonism and tenacity, since blindly obeying anyone's orders was not in her character. She did not feel like following anyone just because they claimed themselves to be an authority figure.

However, in this case she concluded that she cannot afford to exaggerate and be completely obstructive. After all, the Espada did not have to provide her with any comfort. She should not be deluded by the fact that any of the amenities were given her for free, and soon she would have to pay for them in some way. At the same time, she was perfectly aware that her reckless behaviour could make her lose it all and bid her return to the infirmary.

"Thank you" she said politely, when two hollows have successfully dealt with the load and left the room. "I'm glad you thought about it, except that given the circumstances, I can't stop wondering: why? And what is the price?"

"I knew you would ask this question. There is no catch this time, it's just the continuation of the tests, which previously you were subjected to. Because your performance in each category scored above average, I decided to proceed to the second stage. For the time being, I find the degree of your cooperation satisfying and I decided that you deserve a reward. Of course, I expect that our collaboration will only be improving over time."

His answer, seemingly clear and coherent, left a lot untold. Sara was thoughtfully considering his words, trying to read between the lines and detect potential pitfalls.

 _What kind of cooperation?_ her thoughts were racing at the light speed from one to another. _What is he babbling about? The last thing you can say about me is that I was cooperative. What is the meaning of this? Well, except the fact that the guy clearly tries to make me a total fool... it's just more than certain. I have to be careful... but how, if don't even know where exactly I am, I can't communicate with anyone in the human world and I have no idea how the events may develop?_

"You look like you don't fully understand your position," the Espada spoke once again, interpreting her silence his way. "Shall I repeat?"

She ignored the barb directed at her and ceased the internal reasoning, which was pointless as it did not bring any added value.

"There's no need for that," she said, glancing boldly at his face. "Sounds like a fair proposal. What will the next test involve?"

"Look around you" he supported this sentence with gestures, pointing his hands around. "Do you know where you are? Of course, except that it's the Las Noches base in Hueco Mundo."

This question caught her very surprised and she was convinced she did a miserable job to conceal it. The Espada smirked when she was frantically searching for the answer in her mind.

"It-it's some kind of... uh, workspace" she stammered at last. "Or a warehouse."

"And what would you work on or what can store here?" he was evidently amused, when he asked for more details "You don't need to share your suggestions with me now. It shall be your first task."

"The easiest way to complete it would be to get a manual" she meowed with little hope in her voice. "I'm sure that you have something like this readily available."

He chuckled irritatingly.

"I created this lab centre myself and accomplished it using my mind alone. I know the arrangement of space, the keys to all crossings, bridges between levels, hidden collapses and other traps... I know everything by heart. Therefore, why would I need something as primitive as a user guide? Besides, I often introduce modifications. One simple change and the instruction becomes worthless. Preparing it is just a waste of time that can be spent on other, not so tedious, tasks."

Sara had somewhat different view on this topic, but for obvious reasons she decided not to say that aloud.

"In due course, I'll provide you with the technology you use in the human world," the arrancar went on. "It should help you in your work. I also finished searching your personal belongings, and because I haven't found anything hazardous, I'll return them to you."

The last sentence sparked her interest.

"My clothes too?"

He shook his head. Somehow it was the answer she expected to hear.

"It is a laboratory based in Las Noches, and you can't work here in the attire as if you were still in the human world. Don't you like the uniform that I designed and prepared for you?"

His question was a camouflaged trap, but Sara detected it with one eye opened.

"Uniform is perfect, thank you" she said, slightly embarrassed to show kindness to her captor. "I didn't know it was you..."

"Get used to it" he interrupted her unceremoniously. "You are claimed to be competent and knowledgeable in the human world, but this is Hueco Mundo. Forget everything that other humans taught you and be open to learning new concepts. By doing this way, you will find easier to absorb theory, which now seems to you to be impossible to implement. And when you're done with the theory, we will also find time to go through the practice."

After going through the morning routine, she decided to put make-up on, despite the lack of a logical reason for such a waste of time. In the laboratory there was hardly any chance to meet anyone else except the head of this part of the base or his hollow subordinates and attempting to look pretty in their presence seemed to be a farce.

 _Well_ , she thought while accentuating the upper lash line with a brown eye pencil. The fine lines on the eyelids matched the matt-brown eye shadow. _I have to accept the fact that I'm a vain, narcissistic vixen._

After putting on the mascara and applying a lipstick in natural shade of pink, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The result was satisfactory, so there was nothing else to do than to start the second approach to the task at hand. Yesterday she didn't manage to learn anything, probably because she was still stunned by the change of living conditions and lacked technological support. She waited impatiently for the delivery of tools as she was counting heavily on the modern solutions.

Before she left the bathroom, she applied a few drops of her favorite perfume with notes of iris, vanilla, patchouli and incense in the recesses of both wrists and behind the ears. She took a deep breath, savouring the powerful, oriental scent. Her fragrance, like a shot of adrenaline or a dose of energy, gave her courage and confidence. Deep down, she was shivering by a mere thought about confronting the Espada or the sound of his voice, seemingly gentle and polite, but with a distinct and frightening hint of cruelty.

 _It keeps bothering me why Aizen would want to bring to Hueco Mundo a corporate nerd like me. At the beginning, it seemed to me this is due to information about the shinigami at my disposal, but if this was the case, the course of action would have been completely different. I wouldn't need a 'detox' of any sort if they wanted to acquire the data bank in my head._

 _Anyway, there can be no reason at all. Hollows like messing with humans for no particular reason, just to entertain themselves._

She sighed quietly.

 _I'll get nowhere if I keep my focus on such issues. I have to get to work that no one else would complete for me._

She stepped over the entrance to the workspace and quickened her pace, noticing several so-called gifts, which Szayelaporro left to her. She watched them as museum exhibits, refraining from touching them, and moving from one to another instead. They all looked a little surreal, devoid of the characteristics of the known brands, including the logo. Electronics clad in black or steel-gray cases seemed rather like an advertising show than ready-to-use tools.

It was only when she reminded herself that the technology was provided to help her, not to embarrass her, she began to critically assess what she actually had in store. It was a kind of a marriage between past and present, as a large cellphone, resembling a retro handset must have been taken straight from the nineties. In turn, a shiny new iPhone existed in the human world in the prototype stage, and its premiere was one of the best kept trade secrets.

 _Wait a minute, if I have a phone and a laptop, and if there's decent network connection, then I can contact my family and friends, and ask them for help._

This idea sprouted in her mind when she held a Windows phone in her hand. She would say this model was manufactured a year ago, judging from the available features. While browsing the menu, she did not encounter any locked or inaccessible options. The only difference in comparison with her own phone was the lack of resources, including contacts, but the most important numbers she knew by heart.

 _And if he's just waiting for it?_

She asked herself this question, considering the consequences of contacting anyone in the human world.

 _Perhaps it's exactly what me expects to do. To import my contacts into the devices, connect to my email account, reveal the password, and as a result, he gains access to my sensitive data. Then he may impersonate me and start insider trading with the shinigami. Or, which would be much worse, he may try to lure my relatives to Hueco Mundo._

Realising this must be a trap, she reluctantly gave up broadcasting SOS messages. Instead, she decided to write an innocent sms to her friend, Anna Brodecka, to check the connection between the worlds.

From: Sara To: Anna

Hi Ann, I hope in you are ok. Sorry that I haven't been around lately, but I was overloaded with work and now I went on spontaneous holidays. Until the last moment I was dealing with the formalities so I couldn't let you know. Sara

Ring announcing the incoming response was like a cry of freedom. So the communication works even between Hueco Mundo and the human world!

From: Anna To: Sara

Is Ernie with you?

From: Sara To: Anna

He couldn't take any days off, so I went alone.

From: Anna To: Sara

Whoa, a solo trip? Have fun! Any trophies so far?

At this point, she took a bit of risk and typed a message that was more or less true – or, at least to a greater extent than the previous ones.

From: Sara To: Anna

I met a nice guy, who looks like a typical geek in glasses.

From: Anna To: Sara

Heh, just don't go all-out.

From: Sara To: Anna

No worries. There might be some technical problems with hardware.

From: Anna

? I'd rather not ask for details. Talk to you later, take care.

A similar conversation established to Liwia Roman, with whom she used to work in one team three years ago. Their paths went separate - Sara was promoted to a manager, and Liwia chose the profession of a freelancer – but they remained good friends. They had a lot of common interests, albeit a slightly different perspective on life, so they could learn from each other. They also liked to send themselves creatively written messages, the meaning of which could be guessed only by the two of them. In this case, however, the dialogue was not that long, because Liwia was on her way to the volleyball training, or rather, as she put it, the collective shifting of control over the ball on the field partitioned by a too highly suspended net.

When Sara was going to turn on the laptop to try it out, Szayelaporro just arrived in the workspace. Actually, she could not spot the moment he entered or teleported there, because she didn't hear his footsteps until he was walking beside her.

"Good morning" she greeted him.

He did not say a word, just nodded, stepping a bit closer. He picked up the phone as if sensing that it was a tool to start a conversation with Anna and he immediately went into the messages menu, smiling to himself that his silly pet hadn't thought of something so obvious as erasing her ridiculous requests for help. But even if she was that diligent, it wouldn't help her at the slightest. The arrancar had made certain that no message with the words 'help', 'rescue' or similar was going to be delivered to the recipient. It was amusing to follow unsuspecting Sara in her pathetic and desperate attempts to break free.

The fact that messages were written in an unfamiliar language was not an issue. This device was equipped with a built-in dictionary, so it took a brief moment to display rough translations to Spanish.

As he was reading, his smile was gradually fading and finally disappeared – suddenly as a candle flame blown by strong wind. Szayelaporro threw the phone on the floor with such force that it broke into pieces. When he turned in Sara's direction, she could not believe how swift and radical change occurred in the usually calm scientist's demeanor.

"You vulgar bitch!" he cried in a terrifying voice she hadn't heard him utilizing before "How dare you make fun of me!"

Moving unnaturally quickly, he grabbed her arm and pressed her the wall. Grimace, which appeared on his features, reminded her of bared teeth of a predator who just caught its prey. Sara was shocked and horrified, as she realized it was the first time she saw him in such an aggressive state... although they hadn't had many occasions to interact. Therefore, if it was only the beginning, what kind of monstrosities were waiting for her round the corner?

And even though she knew that hollows are cannibals, feeding on both human souls and the others of their kind, at least Szayelaporro appeared to be different, posing as a nice, sympathetic man. At the same time, she was convinced that madness exhibited by his face was not another of his stage creations. He was genuinely angry and to give vent to his fury, he would not hesitate to tear her apart with his bare hands.

When Sara cocked her head, he drew the sword and swung the blade right in front of her, forcing her to straighten up and look straight at his mad face. Feeling cold blade at her neck, and his breath on her skin, she was calculating and it seemed the odds were not in her favour. There was no one else in the room, and if she had even found one of the victims of his experiments, she could not automatically assume that they would have rushed to help her. On top of that, the Espada was much stronger than her, and also kept her at bay with the blade with supernatural abilities.

 _Stay quiet,_ she told herself. _Do not speak without being asked and try to ignore his anger. This is the only way to calm him down and get away._

"You think that knowing my little secret, you can afford to mock me? That you can pose as an important persona just because you hacked a database?"

"Ouch, stop" she tried to sound the most sweetly and politely, as she was able to produce. "What are you doing? You gave me new clothes and now you want to ruin them with bloodstains?"

She tried to raise her right hand to show him that she had no bad intentions, the more that just released his grip on her arm. But as usual, it was a trap. With his free hand, he slammed his fist against the wall just next her head. She glanced at a hole of the size of an ostrich egg and began to frantically think about changing her strategy to survive this battle.

"I can't get over how presumptuous you are, human vermin. I wonder if you'd be in such a jolly mood, having undergone mastectomy or labiaplasty. Right now. Without anesthesia," he hissed. "Maybe then you'll get rid of these pathetic attempts to beg for my attention. As if an ordinary human harlot could spark any interest in me..."

 _Well, we can head into this direction..._

"Fantasies cost nothing" she intercepted the flow of the conversation, when he paused, all while carefully watching his reactions. "Besides, it was a private message. How should I know that you're interested in some chit-chat?"

He backed up, clearly struck by her words.

"What a tasteless provocation" he snarled contemptuously. "You provoked me, didn't you?"

"If you don't take risks, you'll always work for someone who does" she answered sententiously.

"That's right. But you have to remember about risk mitigating strategies."

He sheathed his sword and took several steps towards the exit, releasing her from the impasse. Standing against the wall, he followed her every move with sharp gaze.

"What should I do now?" she asked, trying to put her trembling voice under control. "Should I apologise to you on my knees or rather dance or sing?"

He combed his hair on the side, laughing. Although there was no trace of the joy, she instinctively sensed that the crisis was gone, and Szayelaporro returned to his impeccably suave alter ego.

"You'd look absolutely delicious on your knees" he said, giving her an arrogant look. "But no... it's all for today. I hope that you drew the correct conclusions from this lesson."

"Yes," she admitted. "I took it to heart."

Even when Sara was left without a word and secured the door, she could not afford to breathe a sigh of relief. He could return any minute and there were surveillance cameras all over this place. If he saw her fainting from terror, he would not forget to take advantage of this later on.

 _In fact, being conscious or not is irrelevant as he's definitely stronger than me. He was right, it was a useful lesson. I've noticed that after he verbalises his threats, he is less inclined to actually make them happen._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

The next day was hardly an improvement and Sara woke up trembling. When she finally managed to fall asleep, despite her outrageous heartbeat, she woke up after two or three hours, looking around in panic if the hollows would come to consume her soul. Her head was still processing images from yesterday's clash with the Espada, which ended in cease fire only because of sheer luck. Interrupted sleep did not bring her the expected relief, and when she rose from her bed, she had to maintain the pretense of being confident at all costs.

 _There are cameras here,_ she kept reminding herself almost all the time. _Cameras are everywhere. He is certainly watching me and I need to make sure he won't enjoy today's tapes._

Again Sara put on the white uniform, on the one hand feeling uneasy because she was dressed like the enemy, and on the other - it were the only decent clothes available, so it's not like she had much choice. She brushed her hair and using the cosmetics from her handbag, she put on make-up using a nude color palette as if she still lived in the human world. She performed these activities almost automatically, lost in thoughts about what is going to happen next. When she was finished, she breathed deeply several times and headed for the workspace, where she almost died.

The hole in the wall was still there, with its unnerving emptiness, but because Sara didn't have the means to cover it, she simply focused not to look in this direction. All the appliances remained in the same places where she left them. Nevertheless, she checked whether the host hadn't come up with some sort of a Trojan Horse. Everything seemed to be in order, but there was always a possibility the Espada would like to mess up with her a bit.

She looked around the room, which was still a chamber of secrets. Laptop, tablet filled with notes in Spanish, smashed Windows phone, iPhone, massive cell phone from the nineties and a remote control for the absent TV were based on the human technology. Since the rest was not designed by her kind, she couldn't intuitively guess how to open the cabinets or get a stool in order not to stand all the time, or to adjust the lighting to her needs, or expand countertops, so that they offer larger space for work.

Even in case of alien technology, any mechanism developed by the arrancar had to follow the rules. Szayelaporro pointed out that he would not lend her any instructions or guidance and because of yesterday's incident, he would rather not visit her. Therefore, she had more than enough time to try any solutions she saw fit.

 _I don't care how loud he will laugh at me,_ she thought. _I'm going to explore this office millimeter by millimeter. I suspect that somewhere must be a top secret control panel or..._

She crouched in the corner of the room, next to the external door. Her fingertips were moving over the smooth walls of the furniture with the intention of hitting on an invisible latch or a hidden button. After an initial examination of the first part of tiles and cupboards, no such possibility was uncovered. She sat on the floor, watching the tiles pensively and carefully examining their surface as well as the grooves between them. She gave a lot of attention to the grout lines, which surprisingly were not filled in with grout, that is why she previously considered them to be mobile.

After several attempts to ignite the mysterious machines or to open a gate to another dimension (and preferably to the human world), she had no other choice but to change methodology, because this approach did not produce any results.

Suddenly there was the sound of a door opening, and panicked Sara immediately rose from the floor, getting herself ready for the next battle. But it was not the Espada this time. In the entrance stood two familiar-looking, meatball-like hollows with thin, spindly arms and legs. They left two parcels, wrapped in gray cardboard on the threshold.

"Lumina and Verona..." she muttered, remembering their names "What is it?"

She glanced pointedly at their delivery. As soon as the hollows put the load on the ground and freed their hands, they started jumping and waving his arms, as if presenting their own tribal dance. They had a funny habit of finishing each other's sentences, speaking in a mixture of Spanish and broken English.

"Lord Szayelaporro told us..."

"... told us to hand this over!"

"To go to Sara Morgenstern…"

"…because Sara Morgenstern hungry!"

"Hungry, huuuungry!"

'Hunger' had to be one of their favorite words, because hollows enjoyed repeating it a handful of twenty times, still jumping like puppets whose animator got mad and was pushing all of the strings at the same time, at high speed.

"If you've actually provided me with the food and not with leftovers from your lunch, please thank your master on my behalf for his concern" she said, smiling wryly to the 'messengers'.

She picked up the two parcels from the floor and put them on the countertop, but at the same time, the hollow with a single ponytail rushed towards her. Thanks to the fact that she was leaning against the wall, she avoided a collision, and Verona hit the cabinet and landed on the tiles. Lumina began to scream and went inside with a clear intent to dispense some justice. Sara looked around, where she could hide from them, but both hollows surrounded her. The way they were waving their fists might look funny if only she held any weapon more dangerous than her nails.

But all of a sudden, when Verona and Lumina hit the tiles simultaneously...

...the top drawer emerged from one of the cupboards, located near the place where Sara was already having cold feet.

The sound of activating the mechanism and the mere appearance of the locker, which previously wasn't there, had to scare hollows to the extent they hastily fled, dodging a mysterious surprise.

The door closed behind uninvited guests automatically, and Sara once again could sigh with relief and thank for the unanticipated opportunity to avoid painful consequences of the confrontation. What is more, accidental meeting with Lumina and Verona helped her to unveil part of the mystery of this room. And although in fact she was hungry and wanted to eat the food from the human world instead of the usual synthetics, she put the parcels aside. Drawing proper conclusions from what she just saw became the top priority.

Because the room was rectangular in shape, its arrangement could be associated with an oversized qwerty keyboard. Pressing the appropriate key combination activated opening the assigned storage space. As far as she could recall, Lumina and Verona were on the positions of the letter 'o' and the number '6'. The tiles sinking simultaneously caused the release of the lock holding in place the guidelines of extendable drawers. Later, she would surely need to try different combinations of keys, and if the tiles were too far from each other, Sara immediately considered the possibility of adapting weight plates of some sort for support.

When she successfully came to the conclusion how to explain the phenomenon behind the storage area, the time has come to deal with the contents of the drawer.

It was in stark contrast with the surroundings, just a moment ago being a uniform surface without a single scratch. Judging from its size, if the others were the same, she could guessed there were two additional ones. Activating another pair of guidelines to extend, didn't make sense at the moment, because she wouldn't be able to examine their content, so she focused on reviewing what fell into her hands instead.

The drawer contained a dozen or so small bottles made of dark glass and a rack of vials. She selected a random flask, capped by an old-fashioned bottleneck, with a label hand-written in Spanish and Latin. Szayelaporro's scribbles (if it was him describing this collection) were legible, and Sara could guess what was written due to some resemblance to English terms. This one was labeled as almond oil. Something, however, was amiss about the substance and she was thinking for a while, before moving on with the new discoveries.

All of a sudden, the revelation almost hit her in the head.

 _This psycho hopes that I may mistake prussic acid with the oil of sweet almonds because of a similar name!_ she laughed to herself _Oh, how sorry I am to disappoint you, hollow._

With growing enthusiasm, she sat down to read the remaining labels, focusing primarily on what error could she make judging the contents based on the descriptions, without analyzing the fluid itself. The vials were not classified in any way, but she believed they contain concentrated dyes or pigments used for painting on skin or dying hair.

If she interpreted all clues properly, this small part of the storage space contained substances used in cosmetology as well as poisons. Because some packaging were downright tiny, not much bigger than a fingernail, Szayelaporro succeeded in gathering an impressive collection in just one drawer.

 _That's great to have something to do the make-up with or to wash myself, when to run out of what I had with me when I was captured. But to be honest, I would rather find a way to go home. I guess I'll need a whole load of patience to accomplish that. I won't uncover all secrets of this damned place in one go, that's just not possible._

She tried to repeat Lumina and Verona's method to open the storage and hit the same combination of 'keys' to close the drawer, and then pressed her feet on the equivalents of the letter 'o' and the number '9', because this one was conveniently close. As expected, Sara found another storage opened before her eyes. She walked closer, preparing for another thorough review, but in this case, the contents and their usage were clear. There were a variety of tools, ranging from a set of thin screwdrivers, the smallest of which must have had a diameter of a hair, a box of surgical utensils, a microscope, a burner and packaging stirrers. For the time being, she didn't need any of these items, so she closed the drawer and proceeded to further inspection.

Only after she was satisfied to gain one hundred percent of knowledge from this lesson, she opened the package delivered by Lumina and Verona. She was indeed hungry, and the revelation, which she had just experienced was not able to feed her. In one of the airtight containers she found steamed fish, and the second included a mixture of chopped, warmed vegetables. There was no seasoning or butter, so the dish tasted rather flat, but certainly was healthier than the ubiquitous synthetics. It was also fairly unlikely it contained any poison or drug.

 _I could suspect that he'd try to add a 'surprise' to curry or a sweet dessert, but this thing would not be able to hide even the taste of salt particles._

After a few bites she realized how much she missed ordinary food, even as simple as this meal. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and she instantly realised it is not only about diet. She was a captive in Hueco Mundo, a world full of hollows, monsters feeding on human souls. The arrancar who got her imprisoned belonged to one of the highest ranks, Las Espadas and he planned to carry out the experiments on her. She was lucky that her body was still intact, and not missing any limbs or internal organs.

She was in the lab all alone, without anyone to ask for help or even let go of the grief during a conversation with another person. She could not predict what lay ahead of her, she could only guess, however, that according to the scientist's plans, there was no chance for her to come out of this adventure alive. On the other hand, Sara promised herself to work hard so that such vision would never materialise.

 _But I will return,_ she argued fervently with her mind. _I'll do whatever it takes to go back home. And this hollow should better watch out._

The next days were spent on productive activities. Sara managed to gather a handful of information about her surroundings and gain some first-hand experience with the alien technology. Admittedly, none of them brought her home, but at least it helped her to ease her mind from speculating about the next days and horrors to come. Her psychopathic 'guardian' was yet to demonstrate more tricks from his inexhaustible arsenal. So far, he didn't spoil the recent days with his presence, and thus did not deprive her of pleasure of exploring the mysteries of the laboratory.

The first success encouraged her to continue to explore space she called the warehouse, although now any definition or label seemed to be irrelevant. If the main purpose of this room was to store any cargo, it would be arranged differently. The rectangular shape, a relatively small volume of containers and the empty section in the middle must have served other, unique purpose.

 _It's also possible that he simply adapted a broom cupboard to my 'needs' and I'm trying hard to look for hidden catch and strings attached where they don't exist._

She switched on the laptop, which – similarly as the other electronic devices - was not password-protected. The battery was fully charged, and network sensors showed several options to choose from, as if someone thought about installing transmitters somewhere in Las Noches.

 _No way... I can't believe that wi-fi works in Hueco Mundo!_

But it somehow seemed logical after she gave this idea more insight. The Arrancar Army had to have their tools of communication and exchanging information. Access to the network of the human world gave them further opportunities to identify and observe the enemy from distance. The connection was amazingly quick. She launched a web browser, but then encountered a kind of a firewall. News portals, including websites of the daily newspapers did not work, as well as the access to email accounts. This was hardly a surprise, rather a proof of her captor's forethought and attention to details.

Sara made an overview of the installed programs. Most of the Spanish names didn't tell her absolutely anything, and she preferred not to click on random icons, in order not to carry out, for example, formatting the hard drive. She found applications resembling individual components of the MS Office. She also located the communicator of Las Noches, which, however, she was unable to launch, despite several attempts.

 _Either it's an extremely smart application, allowing only hollows to use it and blocking humans after checking the fingerprints hitting the keyboard, or someone screwed up the install file..._

She walked away from the computer, and her mind began to wander over the deciphering how to open the overhead lockers. The bottom tier had lost its secret aura, but she was yet to find the correct combination of keys releasing the lock on the upper containers. She tested various options, which in the long run was tiring, especially as she couldn't celebrate any success. That's why she made breaks, playing with the laptop, checking the applications on the iPhone and looking for use for the shattered Windows phone. Recently she took out the battery, which was intact and could be used as a portable power source...

...but only after Sara would familiarise herself with local energy storage policies. And that wouldn't be anytime soon.

 _Be patient,_ she advised herself. _The sooner I can think of anything, the better, because it's not holiday and I can't expect anything positive here. On the other hand, I should not jump from one idea to another or throw myself desperately at every scrap of information I get. An in-depth analysis and drawing appropriate conclusions is the key to survival in this place._

Overcoming her reluctance, she returned to struggle with the keys to the areas yet unknown. Her main motivating factors were the plans how to utilize this discovery. She believed that the system of keys must have certain features in common in the entire laboratory centre. Therefore, if she managed to work out the simplest ones, she would be able to move to the more complex ones, for example, the blockade on the external door. Naturally, Octava Fraccion were probably waiting outside, but it didn't matter much. The sheer discovery was more important. Clearing this obstacle was like another stone that she could jump on her way to the final goal.

When testing different combinations of keys, her thoughts flew away and after a while she was able to justify this sensation. Jumping around and pressing tiles, taking mechanical, repetitive actions - all of them didn't fit the extravagant breadth of the Espada's cabinet of curiosities. Sara would rather expect a multi-level interactive strategy game with lots of puns and unusual puzzles.

 _Or I'm trying to convince myself that I'd prefer such a charade?_

However, it was too late - her mind picked up this idea and decided to stick to it as much as a mountaineer does with their rope.

 _Besides_ , she added in thoughts, _such a simple, even simplistic solution could not be the correct one, and was arranged as a fortunate coincidence._

Sara took several steps forward, which were loosely based on the chassé of cha-cha-cha, her favorite ballroom dance. She emphasized the graceful movements by overexaggerated footwork.

One of the steps must have hit the bullseye, because the storage compartment located above her suddenly opened, and its contents - a pile of books - fell onto her head. She tried to protect herself by raising her hands in the air and catching the volumes, but she managed to grab just one of them. Then the source of flying literature went dead. She left the one in her hands on the counter, then gathered the others and put them together, trying to guess what they had in common, except that all the titles were in Spanish.

What was more, most of them were language textbooks.

She reviewed this collection, rather bizarre for a laboratory based in a world of hollows. Some books looked like they were printed in the XIX century, their pages were yellow-grayish and graphic design was archaic. In turn, others were completely modern, as if they had just emerged from the bookstore and bore no signs of use.

Sara realised they didn't appear in this shelf by accident. These books were clearly waiting for her with an evident purpose in mind.

 _Well, then. Since señor Espada thinks that I need to fill in inexcusable gaps in the knowledge of foreign languages, I'll start cleaning my backlog._

She smiled mischievously.

 _First I'll try to memorize the nasty words to properly comment his ideas, and then I'll pretend that I don't understand what I'm saying. He probably won't take this joke well, but it'll be fun anyway._

Sara knew the number of her credit card by heart and for a very brief moment she was tempted to purchase new clothes, shoes, bags in one of her favorite online stores. Only after giving this idea some thought, she gave up. Reasons were obvious. She had no doubt that her 'guardian' would be able to circumvent any security protocol and hack the transaction data, although it would not make much sense. Why would he be interested in accessing her bank account? What he would buy with that money? He would not find sufficient amount to take over a country, so this move wouldn't pay off. Sara got a well-paid job, but she invested most of her earnings in mutual funds, bonds and shares, so it often happened that her current account didn't show impressive digits.

Even after reassuring herself that the Espada would have no benefit in breaking into her funds, she thought about the instructions she needed to provide the courier. With increasing amusement she imagined a bold adventurer, who undertakes the task to deliver the consignment to the Las Noches base.

 _It's a pity, because in the new Balenciaga's collection there are quite a lot of white clothes, which I guess that Aizen's army would like to wear. Maybe if more of the arrancar would be interested in ordering them, we could apply for free shipping... if it wasn't for the address. But even Spanish-language would get lost in Hueco Mundo._

She smiled to herself, going one step forward in her bold wishes for comfort and wondering if Szayelaporro Granz would have provided her his funds if she asked him to do so. Or if by fortunate coincidence she found his credit card... if he had any, that is.

 _I think that here it's enough to have Aizen as the boss._

Eventually, Sara decided to take the risk and used her credit card to buy some music. She liked working in silence, but the conditions in the laboratory in this respect were quite unnatural, like in a tomb. Not a single sound came from the outside, and she had uneasy feelings that her breath or footsteps are too loud and were distracting her like an artillery charge. At the same time, she was lacking contact with people, exchanging jokes and anecdotes, even the despised small talk. Favourite songs were going to be a remedy for the mind-boggling emptiness.

Her taste was very diverse, and because she was interested in the history of music, she happened to listen to classical music, but also various genres of rock from different decades, as well as heavy metal. She also often bought the soundtracks from musicals, which she enjoyed, watching them performed on stage. She also followed the pop scene since the end of the World War II. Actually, she could say the same about most types of music, as during the dance classes she was dealing with variety of rhythms and beats.

Sara was keeping an eye on the downloading status. After a moment, the albums that she just bought were to be found on the computer's hard drive.

She was getting impatient waiting for her music base to build up. She also had singing in mind. Although she wasn't very good in that, she found singing – even out of tune – relaxing. She liked to listen to songs in different languages, which helped her become acquainted with their accents. This not only supported the learning process, and at the same time it made it more enjoyable.

Sara had been studying English and German for a long time, and used them in every day communication in business. Because of her origins, she was also a specialist in Slavic languages. She had no problem understanding the majority of citizens of central and eastern Europe. She was self-taught in Russian, including the alphabet, and in spite of some problems with grammar, she spoke the language quite well. She became familiar with basic Romanian when one of her friends married a woman originating from Romania. She liked Serbian and Croatian, but did not have time to learn them properly and could just say a couple of basic phrases.

While trying to adapt to the new conditions, Sara turned on some of her favourite music and it didn't take her long to start singing along. She couldn't resist the temptation of playing with the fact she was under constant surveillance and chose the songs with suggestive lyrics, such as 'I want to be a victim ready for abduction' or 'Let me have it, let me grab your soul away.'

She even declared, 'I'm not an animal in the zoo, this animal will jump up and eat you.'

It was like a discreet way of sticking her tongue out at the Espada.

 _It's childish, but still it's funny._

With a triumphant smile on her face, she organised the textbooks according to the difficulty level and put them at the side, next to English-Spanish and English-Spanish dictionaries, and separated them from the third group of more advanced materials such as fiction and poetry. She anticipated a lot of reading and memorising, because nowhere she could find any pen or paper, to write down summaries of the lessons or do the exercises. She was disappointed by that, because the information she recorded using handwriting was always quicker to understand and learn.

The first chapters contained the absolute basics that Sara found very easy. She was repeating aloud the formulas of greeting, introductions, saying goodbye and various courtesy phrases that usually appear in the initial lessons, but that were completely impractical in the current circumstances. She could not imagine that being in Las Noches she would ask anyone to show the way, or explain that she speaks poor Spanish (it's obvious! At least until she has not assimilates the each lessons), or ask where she can find the restroom.

All the time she had an issue with no means to draw up notes. The touch screen was not made for writing long theses or neverending blockbusters, but in this case it was her only option. She picked up the iPhone and felt a sudden revelation. After the initial learning of the grammar and vocabulary of a foreign language, Spanish menu in the device – without the possibility to change it into English or any other language – lost its mysterious aura. That gave her an idea how to enrich the fill-in-the-blanks exercises.

She switched on the App Store – it was not locked, although she didn't plan to buy anything – and with the proud twinkle in her eye, she found the local version of Siri. She hadn't used the functions of a personal assistant too often, regarding it as just a whim for geeks, but now it offered the perfect opportunity to get to know its potential. The latest models of iPhones were supposed to respond to voice, and to verify this, she laid the device down on the countertop.

"Hola, Siri."

She said the command a little too loudly, as the distance that separated her from the 'interlocutor' was not that long. The iPhone apparently didn't mind, because the screen flashed, clearly being activated, and a moment later her words appeared written in white font on black background.

"Me llamo Siri" said the pleasant female voice. "Esperando instrucciones."

Although the application didn't have a webcam, Sara smiled at the phone.

"Me llamo Sara Morgenstern."

"Saved in memory."

"My new contacts. My brother's name is Aleksander Morgenstern and his number is", here with a little help from the textbook, she listed a random string of digits. "My best friends are Anna Brodecka, her number is," again, she said a random number "and Liwia Roman, her number..."

Application flawlessly repeated three names and saved the phone numbers in contacts. The numbers were fake, but it was just to test the capabilities of the device and her own, related to learning a new language.

Sara played with the app, asking some simple and largely pointless questions like: "¿Cómo eres?", "¿Cuál es tu color favorito?" ¿Hablas inglés? "(in this case the answer was, unfortunately, negative)," ¿Quién es tu papá? "," ¿Quien es tu mamá? "or" ¿Qué opinas de las tabletas Android? ", which turned out to be unexpectedly funny. When she exhausted her list of ideas for exploiting the application, she closed it by an ordinary farewell:

"Adiós, Siri." 

After that, she reached for the book, but the impulse told her to withdraw her hand. She was still staring at the iPhone misty-eyed.

 _And if I only could..._

She mused.

 _Why couldn't I? Since there is no limiter or anything of that sort..._

She scrolled the list of available applications and found the ones she considered helpful for her plans. Programs to check the weather, the location on the map or the clock seemed to be completely impractical in the laboratory. However, Sara immediately began to think about modifying their code, changing parameters and adapting them to her current needs.

 _I'll definitely need an app to draw a map of the lab, because I probably saw like one hundredth of its size and I don't want to get lost here. I could also use a sensor to measure the energy levels. It's a bit unfortunate that I don't have the notes from training with the Twelfth Division, when I was explained the mechanics of the process, but let's see how much I still remember. I'll try my best to play with the technology used in Hueco Mundo. Let's see how it goes..._

She turned on her favourite music again and while singing along with the rock band, she started to work.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Szayelaporro, with his characteristic sense of momentum, appeared in the least expected moment. Sara stopped singing romantic ballad in Serbian in the middle of the chorus, as she heard his shoes clattering over the floor. The Espada snapped his fingers, and a moment later the music ceased to play.

"Aren't you having too much fun?" he asked with a frown "Have you forgotten about the task that I asked you to complete?"

It seemed to her that he is in an extremely bad mood, though in his case it might have been just a pose, aimed at making her tremble in her black-and-white shoes. Therefore, she decided that even if she had to go through the biblical eye of a needle, she wouldn't take the bait. She would demonstrate her superiority through mastery and control over emotions. Perhaps, as the side effect, she could get him so annoyed that he would be avoiding visiting her for a longer period of time.

"Buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Sara" she smoothly recited formulas from the texbooks. "Estoy de un pais que es miembro de la Unión Europea. Encantada, señor Granz."

"Basura" he summed up her efforts to master his mother tongue and switched into English. "What are you doing? The clues that I left you..."

"I'm learning Spanish" she corrected him gently. "I'm utilizing the books that no one else but you would hide here. I suppose that you haven't left them for any other purpose... such as feeding them to Lumina and Verona."

He looked surprised, but did not comment. She took it as a positive sign, which encouraged her to go on with her monologue.

"I'm learning fairly quickly and most probably, soon I'll be able to obtain a certificate. Even now, supported by the dictionary, I'm going through these adult stories, which you added to a set of textbooks. Although this genre of fiction is not exactly my cup of tea, 'scientific purposes' are my excuse for reading them" she smiled maliciously. "It was also mentioned somewhere that you tagged me as a spell breaker" although Sara was shorter than Szayelaporro, she seemed to attempt to look down at him. "I wonder if you meant something like that."

She reached for the bowl and three flasks that she prepared in advance. She shook one of them, carefully collecting sediment from the bottom and poured a properly measured portion to a separate vessel. The second flask contained powder, which she spilled to a bowl. The third bottle was fitted with a pipette, by which she precisely measured out exactly five drops of a clear liquid.

After a while, the individual components began to interact, and the potion hissed, bubbled, boiled and steamed to finally calm down and fall. Sara picked up the bowl and firmly poured its contents onto the armoured door.

Despite the fact she anticipated such effect, she took a step back when massive steel gate began to melt. As the liquid was eating through the door, their essence was disappearing, uncovering a solid wall instead.

"Illusion" she explained. "Those doors were an advanced way to mask the proper method of navigating the laboratory. The real transition between the chambers is intangible and requires a certain amount of energy to manage every single opening."

She was looking forward to applause from her interlocutor, but his body language was far from showing admiration.

"Generalisations" he grumbled. "An average spiritually-aware being would have guessed that. I expected something more from the likes of you."

She was struggling to resist the temptation of throwing the empty bowl in his direction and ruining his perfectly clean white clothes, but she quickly regained her composure and put the vessel back on the desk. She was, after all, in front of the Espada, one of the most powerful hollows, whose sense of perception was superior in comparison to humans. Dodging an object flying right into him was something as simple as squashing an ant with a foot.

"Besides, I have learned how to use the storage system" she was still unaffected by his radiating pessimism. "I also studied the substances stored here. I know most of them from the human world. As for the unknown ones, I cataloged them and tested their properties."

She looked at him expectantly, to finally earn a positive comment. However, his demeanor was clearly showing she should not expect any praise.

"It must have been child's play, since Lumina and Verona led you to the solution. Lumina and Verona" he repeated with strong emphasis. "That is, hollows, whose IQ is similar to cows, pigs or chickens, which you eat every day."

"I don't eat any meat here" she corrected him quickly.

He shrugged his shoulders, as if this whole conversation was beneath his level of dignity.

"By the way, you don't need to exert such strong pressure on the tiles to open the lockers. I'll give you the remote control, because your heels would leave scratches on the floor" he said with disgust. "If it goes further, I'll be able to recover your daily schedule just by following your footsteps."

"You will give me the remote" she repeated seemingly innocently "with or without batteries? Knowing you, you'll make me endlessly pressing different buttons and trying some wild combinations to trigger any effect."

"Good question" he admitted "but don't worry about it. This device is properly programmed, and I don't need it myself, because I can control lab mechanisms directly via brain waves. Hence, I'll do you a small favour. And when it comes to the power source, try to figure it out yourself. After all, you aspire to be a world-class researcher-analyst" he continued with theatrical emphasis "and I'm simply not sadistic enough to step into your competences."

"You got it" she picked up the iPhone and started to write on the touch keyboard. "I've just put it in my tasks. Anything else?"

"Perhaps enjoy yourself, while you still can" he sounded ominous, with metallic notes in his voice. "Oh, I almost forgot. Would you mind having someone to accompany you?"

She was all ears with a slightly concerned expression on her face.

"If you mean some new hollows, then no, thank you for your consideration, I'm not interested in meeting them."

"It's not about the hollows or even about the arrancar. But I will not spoil the surprise, after all, life wouldn't be so exciting if we could precisely predict the future."

He was wounded. Horizontal cut executed by a sharp blade tore his clothes just above the chest. The wound looked ugly, and his clothing was soaked with blood, vividly contrasting with the clear white of the uniform. One leg of his hakama was ripped at the knee height, and the material was torn as if an animal with claws attacked him. His clothes were also randomly stained in rusty brown, light beige and red spots, forming a hellish mosaic.

Sara stared in horror as he casually raised his hand, activating the mechanism materializing a simple metal chair and slowly descended on the seat. He was breathing heavily and irregularly, as if he had just ran a long distance or was subject to another form of physical exertion.

"Apply me the regeneration accelerator."

 _That's it?_ She quickly calmed her thoughts _If he wants me to just play a medic, then no worries. This means that soon he'll be gone... and by the way I'll show him what I can do._

He guessed correctly that she was familiar with the contents of all the storage cases in this room. She knew where to look for the medicine he requested and what its properties were. It was a cure, supporting the natural ability of the arrancar to regenerate their bodies and accelerate the healing of wounds inflicted by spiritual weapons.

She opened the bottle and poured thick, gelatinous liquid on her fingers. She walked to the seated Espada and massaged the ointment into the wound, trying to overcome the trembling of her hand. She could feel his suspicious, hostile gaze from head to toe. In addition, his muscles were tense, as if his whole body was paying attention to her actions, waiting for the fatal mistake as an excuse to subject her to torture or other fancy 'punishment.' In fact, he didn't need any reason to cause her pain or humiliation, but if she has somehow asking for such treatment, it would have been far more disgraceful.

When she finished the treatment, and withdrew her hand, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and licked the remnants of the medicine directly from her skin, eventually wiping off her fingers using the folds of his hakama. In an instant when he let her go, Sara grimaced in disgust and took a step back, leaning against the storage system.

In absolute quietness, from quasi-safe perspective of standing outside of the Espada's melee attack range, she was watching as the medicine started to do the trick, and the wound got healed. On the one hand, she was afraid to interrupt the harmless silence, on the other - being stuck in the corner made her look a bit of a coward. Especially that the evidently annoyed hollow didn't seem to be going everywhere, and was still observing her closely, even though he got exactly what he wanted.

"The experiment got out of control?" she asked in a friendly tone

"No, you idiot" he snapped. He seemed to be really tired and had no strength to reply with more sophisticated remarks. "It was a routine review of the Octava Fraccion."

Despite having butterflies in her stomach, she easily sensed false notes in his response. She slightly narrowed her eyes, reminding herself how Szayelaporro's subordinates look like.

"Should I believe that you gave some fancy swords to Lumina and Verona? Or maybe these brainless freaks scratched you with a nail file?"

He laughed softly.

"Don't be stupid. I am an Espada and no regular blade, without the spiritual support, can't even touch me. The Octava Fraccion are not a threat. I admit that I got a little carried away. Because the only person who could inflict that kind of wound... was me."

He drew his zanpakuto from the sheath. She noted that held the sword with his left hand, but then shifted attention to the blade, painted with a macabresque pattern of dried blood. He was moving it so slowly, as if he wanted to make this image engraved on her retina, while still keeping an eye on her reactions.

"Do you want to touch it?"

Albeit his voice sounded like an incentive to eat the forbidden fruit, there was something dreadful and ghastly in his gaze. His greedy stare sent chills down her spine. She felt like standing in front of a hungry predator, who wonders whether to devour her alive or to mercifully let her die quickly by a bite on the back of her neck.

"Thank you, I like my fingers where they are now" she said after a moment of awkward silence, forcing a bland joke.

Sara wanted to harshly criticise herself when she heard her own voice. It was so weak, as if she was suffocating, which wasn't that far from the truth. She felt as if her senses were failing, and the surroundings without any warning became blurred. She saw her interlocutor through a film of some sort, and his movements seemed to be unnaturally slow. When he sheathed his sword and brushed his hair from forehead, in her perception it lasted more than a minute, even though in reality it did not take more than a few seconds.

Szayelaporro did not comment or laugh, but muttered something like 'hmm', which amongst total silence sounded to her almost like a fire alarm.

 _You need to keep him occupied with something,_ it occurred to her. _He is so furious that he can't contain himself. At this point, his behaviour is completely unpredictable. Find a solution, Sara. This minute, this instant, ASAP. Otherwise he'll tear you to pieces._

Glancing over the desk with the corner of her eye, she noticed a bottle of medicine, which was the panacea she was looking for. She picked it up and examined it with the severity of a judge, giving the impression she was fully absorbed by its contents. She shook the liquid in the dark-glassed flask, to see how much is left.

"It seems to me that it's time to replenish the supply" she was speaking rather directly to the bottle than to him.

At this point, the Espada rose from his seat, and Sara was relieved that his visit was finally coming to an end. He walked closer to her and took the medicine from her hand to verify her words. She saw pale, unhealthy blush on his face, as if he had a fever. This could indicate that his sword was poisoned or that regeneration was not as simple and effortless process as it seemed. His body bore symptoms similar to an ordinary infection.

"Nonsense" he commented, putting the bottle back into its place. He used such force, as if he wanted to smash it into the surface. "The supply should be enough for the next years, even if during that time I wouldn't do anything else than fighting with humans and shinigami..." he explained, while clearly intending to leave "but if you're doing so well with the substance storage, maybe I should pay you another visit soon."

"You must be very busy," she replied faintly. "You don't need to rush anything."

When he eventually left, she took a deep breath, but it didn't bring her expected relief. Relying on one hand, she propped up on a laboratory table top and had the other free hand cover her mouth to hold back a wave of nausea. She almost lost control over herself.

Sara intuitively sensed there was something disturbing about the situation, however, she couldn't always precisely determine the source of her premonitions. Once she calmed down after an unexpected encounter with the Espada, she set her analytical mind in motion, asking herself a lot of questions that she didn't know the answers to.

Who wounded him? How serious were the injuries? The fact that he revealed his own weakness before her, could suggest that yes – he seemed to have no other choice, but to turn for help to a human prisoner. On the other hand, knowing Szayelaporro, it was probably a misleading maneuver. Not for a second did she believe it was self-mutilation. While this was consistent with his unpredictable nature, this explanation could be excluded, based on the wound itself, which was too deep for self-inflicted damage. Therefore, there was no doubt it was a result of a fight. But then, who was the opponent? And what happened to them? Did they simply stop at injuring the Espada? Did they withdraw afterwards? Or maybe the anonymous adversary was a victim of some elaborate tactics? Were they still somewhere around the laboratory? The arrancar's impatience could have resulted from the fact that the second round was expected soon.

It was also enigmatic why Szayelaporro did not want to tell her any details. Although her questions were not very well-thought, he was intentionally avoiding to explain the whole story. His nervousness prompted her that there had to be something more than meets the eye, because such behaviour was completely out of his character. After all, if he clashed with someone, irrespective whether it was a man, a shinigami or other hollow and won, why he wouldn't show off his triumph? A victorious fight, even with a usual everyman was quite a good reason to flaunt his powers in front of the whole world... and at the same time, to make her aware, what would happen to her, if she attempted open hostility and disobedience.

The only explanation she could come up with, assumed that the fight with a mysterious enemy did not go according to plan. No matter what the outcome was, probably the intention was completely different. Sara remembered the remark Szayelaporro made about having a company soon and realised that until now, this announcement was just an empty promise. Maybe this new victim was a match for the Espada? At this point, she thought ironically about herself. She was in a hopeless situation, with absolutely no possibility of getting medieval on her captor, although she was really tempted to do so.

 _Why someone, who succeeded, had to escape so quickly? They could have stayed a little longer to help me get out of here._

Sara felt it was time to take break from studying not too interesting Spanish grammar and decided to walk around the laboratory. She was thinking about this idea earlier, but lacked the determination to carry it out. For any sane person it would meant falling into a trap. In the quarters assigned as hers, she was quite safe, at least the safest she could be in prison. Unquestionably, however, she could not get lost in these facilities and the risk of intrusion by another hollow than Szayelaporro or a surprise attack was low. On the other hand, she couldn't afford being locked all the time. It was not even claustrophobia, rather curiosity. Staying constantly in the same place also meant she was not getting any new information. And keeping herself well-informed was crucial to finding a way back home.

Furthermore, the Espada never forbade her to leave her segment. He wasn't even surprised or upset when she unmasked the illusions, camouflaging the real mechanism opening the door. She couldn't return to the human world yet and was advised against going outside the laboratory, but it was kind of obvious. Outside, there was nothing but smoldering desert, and Sara was not a fool to condemn herself to painful death from hunger and thirst. That is, unless she met a hollow determined to eat her before that.

The creator of the lab centre told her it never had a plan and its arrangement was undergoing frequent modifications.

 _In that case, I might be the first person to take care of the map of this place. And by the way I'll check this application that I re-made from a template._

Compared with the lack of map, leaving the workshop occurred to be very simple. After she found the exit from her workspace, it was _only_ a matter of activating the key, which was not an instant success. Sara was not satisfied how she opened the secret passage by accident, because it would mean more effort when she was going to repeat it. However, on the positive side, she confirmed her earlier assumption about the energy 'keys'. She could clearly name the moment when she touched the wall with an open hand, and felt something between scalding from boiled liquid and mild electric shock. A dark tunnel appeared immediately afterwards. Although her first thought was whether there are any cobwebs on the ceiling, she had no doubt that she should sacrifice personal comfort for a more in-depth knowledge of her surroundings.

 _I hate spiders._

Her walk in the darkness was not long, and after a while she found herself at the gray and white hallway. Without thinking, she headed straight ahead and marched through a corridor, which seemed to go on forever. From time to time, she marked her location on the map, and the application was sketching the route of her tour. As much as her limited spiritual abilities allowed her, she was detecting illusory passages, blind alleys and looping corridors. She was aware that in an hour the laboratory may look quite different and this exercise was a waste of time. Sara, however, was convinced this would provide useful in the future. Moreover, she could get first-hand experience with the alien technology by testing it.

Newly gained knowledge of basic Spanish added her confidence. The command menu was not a mystery anymore and she didn't fear feared that she can accidentally delete all data on the device.

She walked straight ahead, focused on identifying traps, cleverly set up by the Espada. It was not too difficult as the architecture of this place was rather boring with no element attracting attention. In this way, nothing could have distracted her eyes scanning the walls and floors for hidden surprises.

Sara made very short breaks to update the application outlining the map. Only when she got to a fair-sized hall with an impressive high ceiling, she paused for a while. She immediately began to wonder how this room can be used, because the last thing she expected from Szayelaporro was to leave such a large empty space. Its design did not differ much from the rest of the laboratory, but instead of the overwhelming white and gray, the color scheme was supplemented by emerald green and turquoise.

And although it wasn't the most sensible step, Sara decided to stay here for a while, because it was just a perfect space to dance. Every square metre of the laboratory was like the hospital whose patients knew in advance they were sent there to die. This place, however, didn't look that clinical and made Sara feel more comfortable than other sectors of the lab. And dancing here was simply ideal method of putting all the problems and dilemmas aside. She began with a short warm-up and some stretching exercises. The pain she felt when pushing the muscles to the highest limit and relaxing them immediately afterwards, leaved her with a surprisingly soothing feeling.

Sara turned on the iTunes and selected slow and majestic 'Dance of the Knights' from the ballet 'Romeo and Juliet' by Prokofiev. Her body echoed the motoric rhythm, repeating smooth moves. Since she hadn't been practicing for a long time, those steps done over again helped her to get back into shape. Classical port de bras was something that stayed in her memory, but its flawless execution did not occur right away.

Especially at the very beginning she had to look clumsy, but there were no mirrors in this spacious room, which spared her harsh self-assessment. Even though she was fully aware that her lines are far from perfect and her extensions are not amazing, it would be a lot more humiliating to see any of them with her own eyes.

Sara changed the music into dark and menacing 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' by Grieg.

 _Sou-te-nu, sou-te-nu, sou-te-nu, pique... and again... and now, something simpler..._

She was enjoying every moment of dancing to the rhythm of 'Blue Danube' by Strauss (its slow pace was just right) and 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart. The melodic line of the latter piece allowed her to combine steps from a variety of styles, including broadway jazz (her technique was too weak for ballet, but she could do bits and pieces of contemporary), ballroom and hip-hop.

Two humanoid Octava Fraccion approached her, observing her closely as she was dancing. She tried not to pay attention to them, though discreetly followed them with her eyes, in order to avoid being unexpectedly attacked. She treated them like stray animals, which could be provoked to violence by unusual, sudden movements, eye contact or even speech. The situation, however, was getting more and more problematic, because a whole lot of fraccion was gathering in the hall.

So far, Szayelaporo's subordinates kept a safe distance, and their body language did not indicate as if they were poised to strike.

 _1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and…_

Then, something changed. To her utmost surprise, the hollows were clumsily imitating her movements. At first, she thought it was a coincidence, but when she started rehearsing steps from the various sub-genres of hip-hop, notably, new style, humanoids gathered around her switched to a different choreography and executed the same moves. Or, at least, they were trying.

In different circumstances Sara would have thought it was very funny, because fraccion were constantly out of step, stumbling over one another, accidentally knocking each other with turned out elbows and hands. And when larger hollows were attempting to perform spins, slides and arabesques, it looked so comical like an image taken from a twisted dream.

On the other hand, Sara was wondering what would happen when she stopped dancing (as she was beginning to feel tired) and imagination was showing her visions taken from the Apocalypse. Therefore, she continued to count to eight and presented more of improvised routines. Her heart started to beat faster and it was getting more and more difficult to maintain composure, being stared at by many hungry hollows. Maybe dance was one of their ways of hunting?

At the moment when simply lacked the strength to continue physical activities, she planned a quick escape. She jumped, moving closer to the exit and took a modest bow. She cast a quick glance at the retreat route. This might actually have succeeded, provided that she wouldn't be surrounded.

Meanwhile, screams of the Octava Fraccion increased in volume. Sara heard hollow equivalent of disappointment, as well as the enthusiastic squeals, but their actual reaction could be completely different than her human perception. Two of them, a happily jumping couple, whom Szayelaporro usually involved as messengers, made their way through the crowd to face her directly. They were the first ones to change chaotic noise into comprehensible speech.

"Maestra!" shouted Verona

 _Did I get that right...?_

"Maestra!" Lumina cried like Verona's echo

In a moment later, the great hall was filled with resonating voices of the Octava Fraccion, crying her new title. It was enigmatic, though, whether they were calling Sara Morgenstern herself, or someone who was conceived in their simple minds and coincidentally looked identically the same as her.

And she felt that both options were correct.

Thus, a terrified woman, being a prisoner in Las Noches just died, and a new Sara Morgenstern from the human world was reborn.

 _If I can become the Maestra of the Fraccion... I can also become anyone else. Including the one who will oppose the Octava Espada._

The feeling that came over her, sounded in her thoughts like 'Rondo Alla Turca' by Mozart.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

"I have a new task for you."

"For me?" she raised her eyebrows in well-simulated surprise

"Is there anyone else here?" he countered "Yes, I'm talking to you."

She sighed softly.

"I'm just trying to be eloquent. What could the ultrapowerful and almighty Espada need from a simple human woman?"

He looked at her disapprovingly.

"Don't get carried away. I've noticed recently that you feel quite comfortable here... even too comfortable, given the circumstances."

"Is that good or bad?" she asked immediately

"I haven't decided about it yet. For starters, don't say anything unless I explicitly ask you and let me finish" he snapped.

She nodded, reluctantly refraining from making any comment.

"You have probably guessed that you are not the only one test subject here. There are many more different beings, captured over a long period of time to become my specimens. Among them, I should mention several humans, who got here much earlier than you. I am during the final phase of experiments with them. This stage is critical to the success of the entire project."

"You're right, I guessed that. So what?"

He pursed his lips.

"Don't get too smart with me" he told her off icily. "As I said, I've got a few specimens of your kind, and because of their innate aversion I cannot complete the tests that I planned. By all measures, which I apply to them, they react either sleeping or falling into lethargy of some sort, during which they are limp. I expect them to listen to me and actively respond to my commands. I may give them a firmly stimulant drug, but it will disturb the functioning of the nerve system. This should be the last resort, because it can make the results of my experiments completely unreliable. These humans are not affected by any means torture, as they become limp, and this is not the desired effect. For the experiment to be successful, this group must be fully aware of its position, it cannot be under the influence of drugs, spells or neurocontrol."

Sara looked at him expectantly, as if to tell him to stop to celebrate the ultimate revelation, but remained silent, in accordance with his request. She thought that he wouldn't just tell her off for the third time and she didn't want to suffer because of her untamed irony.

"And this is why I need someone who is able to persuade these humans and make them aware they should voluntarily follow my orders, and their resistance is futile" he continued after a short pause. "In other words, I need you."

"Me?"

He winced, as if he took a bite of something extremely sour.

"How many times will you repeat my words? I didn't come here to talk with a parrot."

She quietly admitted he was right. Szayelaporro was not the perfect audience for playing the dramatic scenes before his eyes, and for one simple reason: since he knew the secret art of manipulation, it was very difficult to deceive him using such techniques. Therefore, rather than challenging the status quo, Sara could move things forward by asking more specific questions.

"Well, I think I understand what should be done. I have to convince the other prisoners to cooperate with you. And what shall I do if they don't listen to me?"

"I don't care how you are going to achieve the goal. You may beg them, you may threaten them, you may torture them or try to bribe them. I'm interested only in the final outcome. Oh, I almost forgot: I would prefer that their bodies remained in the same state as they are now. Leave all of their organs and limbs intact for further research."

"Yeah, I enjoy torturing other people so much..." she muttered "But I see your point. Can't you just send someone from your Fraccion? Lumina and Verona could stir the things up even with a corpse."

"If only it was so easy, I would not spend time talking to you" he slightly narrowed his eyes. "Do you have any other innovative ideas, which you would like to share with me or can we finish the briefing and return to our respective jobs?"

She suddenly put on her serious face, thinking that more professional appearance would stop him from leaving too soon.

"We haven't discussed one fundamental issue yet. Why would I agree to help you? Why you have automatically assumed that I could engineer anything against my own kind?"

He cast a cold glance at her.

"You often happen to forget about your current status. You're my prisoner and not the other way round. Do rats negotiate anything with the captain of the ship, which they inhabit?"

"They don't" she agreed in hard, emotionless tone. "But every captain is aware that these rats, no matter how much he disdains them, may lay waste in the crew storage, bite ropes or spread the disease that soon turns into a plague."

The silence, which lasted for a while, was interrupted by the sound Sara expected the least. She was astonished to hear malicious laughter of the Espada.

"What a cheesy speech" he teased her. "And you know what is the most pathetic about it? That it was conceived by someone like you."

She shrugged her shoulders, trying to look offended. She was genuinely curious whether Szayelaporro would attempt to appease her, to make her cooperate on the sensitive task he has just described her. She could agree to do everything he wants, then sabotage progress for example by encouraging the other prisoners to start a revolt. Without a doubt, the chances that it would have any effect on the Espada, were not too high, but maybe it would help her to find a way to escape from Hueco Mundo, without alerting the arrancar.

 _He may simply smack me in the face and put me in a cell together with the other prisoners. And then I'll have the perfect means to talk with these people and 'tame' them. I think even I would have done so, were I in his shoes._

"You've become so testy recently" he continued. "Have you really taken this metaphor personally? Believe me, if you were a witness to some of my experiments, you would make the conclusion that you are actually living in the lap of luxury."

"I just got a bigger terrarium than others" she said, trying to sound appreciative "which, indeed, is a motivating factor..."

"Ah, yes, so the issue now is your motivation?" he quickly interrupted her, as if waiting to make his move "I think I can offer you something extraordinary in this regard..." smug smile seemed to be permanently glued to his face "If you succeed, I will spend a night with you and make sure that you are happy."

The surprise left her speechless.

"What?" she blurted out, and because it was another pointless question, she quickly corrected herself. "Are you serious? I guess it's a joke I don't quite understand..."

He shook his head.

"Why would I joke? You mentioned earlier that you like me" he said nonchalantly. "I'd be lying if I said that I don't find you attractive. Therefore, what I propose is a natural step forward in our current relationship."

"What kind of 'relationship'? You hold me captive" she reminded him dryly. "I'm not here by my own will. I simply didn't find the means to escape."

He looked at her with amusement.

"You are putting your own words in my mouth and dancing around the subject instead of saying yes or no. If both parties agree, the circumstances of your stay in Las Noches shouldn't be a problem, correct?"

She did not answer, patiently enduring his piercing gaze.

"Besides, you'll do as you wish" he continued casually. "If you are not in the mood, then forget what I said. Just remember about the prisoners. They have to become useful as soon as possible."

The last sentence brought her back on earth, to a more burdensome problem than the offer, which was presented mere seconds before. She understood that the decision was made, and the Espada wanted to involve her regardless of her opinion or self-perception whether she was capable of dealing with this task.

"Speaking of the prisoners, I would like to get access to your database and review their files."

"You know, first you rejected my proposal, and now you want to view data on other potential partners?"

"You have to provide me with the information about them" she ignored his remark, while being more specific in her request this time. "Before I start negotiating with the other prisoners, I should know who I'm dealing with and prepare myself for the discussions."

"It always seemed to me that you are the one who specialises in getting the information. Or maybe you forgot the alphabet, and you want me to read aloud their medical case history?"

"I don't care for their dental records or medical history" her tone became a bit more aggressive. "I want to know who they were as humans... I mean, before you abducted them from our world. How many of them are there?"

"Three" he said, then immediately corrected himself. "Actually, four. But the fourth person is my most serious problem, and I don't know whether it's possible to do anything about it."

"What is the problem?"

He spread his open hands in a gesture of helplessness. Sara had a sarcastic comment on the tip of her tongue. He probably considered her a fool, if he was expecting her to fall for it.

"I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps this is related to the limited human perception and inability to understand simple commands? Or perhaps this individual is inherently imperfect, despite having supernatural abilities?" suddenly, he abandoned parodic, pathetic tone, and added "I won't suggest you any solution, because if it existed, I would have already implemented it. I assume that between the two of us, you're the expert on turbulences of the human nature."

"I have one final question to you: how I can find these people?"

"I can assure you that you wouldn't face the slightest difficulty in finding the prisoners. You've already been walking around the lab, and not only got where you wanted, but you've dealt with the majority of the traps. That is to say," he said with a devious smile "the easiest ones, because I switched off the others as soon as I saw you through the cameras."

 _Sure. He couldn't stop himself from diminishing what I've done._

"So you won't help me, but I can count on you at least trying not to jeopardise my efforts?"

He laughed annoyingly.

"Why would you think I might disturb anyone working in my own lab? You are generally a risk-averse person, which gives me a certain guarantee that you won't try to escape. For this reason, I give you a carte blanche. I also removed the limiter on your spiritual powers, but I must warn you that I'll be checking your progress. I assure you wouldn't like to find out what would happen if I heard at least one false chord in your symphony."

She nodded.

"I understand."

That one word expressed much more than a formal confirmation about being aware of the facts and the scope of her new task. It also included the non-verbal message that she took on herself something she couldn't refuse, because the consequences were simply unbearable.

"I know" he recapitulated. "Otherwise we would not talk at all. Good luck" he waved at her, walking towards the exit. "You'll surely need it."

Finally she had the opportunity to meet other humans! Finally, she was not left to the company of the mad scientist and his creations with chicken brains!

Sara was excited when she imagined herself talking to people who understand her point of view, her feelings, without the necessity to explain them the obvious, for example, why she was tired or resentful, or simply unhappy because she was captured and imprisoned in an alien world inhabited by the hollows. Or why she wanted to go home at once.

Yesterday she regarded this task only from the perspective of action against her species, but after all it didn't mean she couldn't pursue her own agenda. Szayelaporro mentioned that the prisoners were gifted with supernatural abilities, which was a spark of hope for success of the spontaneous idea of a discreet sabotage or even a joint rebellion. This could be the opportunity she had been waiting for since the beginning.

At this point, however, it was too early for the proclamation of triumph. She had to restrain her enthusiasm for now and start laying out the action plan. The situation was too delicate to afford a full improvisation.

The most important were adequate preparations: how to get in touch with other people, how to establish relationships, and finally, how to convince them to work together, without appearing naive on the borderline of being stupid and short-sighted. In short, she had to perform well enough to motivate them to do something more than just sitting on their hands and waiting for the holy judgment, and in order to achieve success, she should – at least to some extent – believe in the message she is going to deliver. Otherwise, it would not seem genuine. At the same time, she should avoid moralizing and preaching. She would step into a role of a coach, who help others to fully utilize their greatest strengths, namely special powers and creative ideas.

First of all, she had to pretend that she is going through the same misery as they probably had. Of course, to some extent, it was true, because spending every day and night under video surveillance, watching every step and weighing every word was not her definition of having a great time, even though Szayelaporro no longer carried out on the experiments on her. But certainly she would not win the trust of the other prisoners, visiting them in the arrancar uniform.

Digging deep down in the closed, she picked up the shirt she wore when she arrived at the lab. Trying to keep the overwhelming disgust at bay, she put on this overstretched, grayish cloth. Sara was struggling to breathe when nauseating smell of vomit started spreading out in the room. For even better effect, she marred her face with dust collected from under the bed and ruffled her hair, so that it didn't look freshly washed and combed. Nevertheless, when she was assessing the final result, her tough frown and suspiciously determined look thrown in the mirror did not meet her expectations, but she was hoping to control them well once she would arrive in the prison cells.

After these preparations, she headed in random direction. Without a complete map of the laboratory, she could only count on the fact that Szayelaporro – allowing her to fulfill this task – would do not force her to wander about the endless corridors, which were so similar, that anyone would lost their way after a few turns. She became slightly worried when that there were no clues on the prisoners' location, at least she could not see any. Her surroundings were unnaturally empty and quiet, even Octava Fraccion were absent. She was convinced it should be the effect of subtly woven illusion disguising the actual appearance of the laboratory, because there was no reason to build a research facility comprising identical corridors and transitions between... well, between what?

Therefore, armoured door on one wall drew her attention in similar fashion as a polar bear walking through the desert, and instantly she considered it suspicious. That was kind of negative evidence, but still it _was_ evidence. She walked closer and examined the opening mechanism, which proved to be a primitive cipher lock. The combination required to enter this part of the lab was a four-digit code, which kind of confirmed her initial impression about falling into a trap. Without thinking much, she typed four eights, and her uncanny intuition proved useful once again, as next moment she heard a loud crack of the released lock.

Only when she stepped inside, she realised why Szayelaporro sent her here and why he had not provided her with any detailed information about the prisoners. It was another warning what would probably happen to her when she dared to play her own game or would try to outsmart him. His provocation with motivating inmates to fight under one banner was rather a sick joke, calculated to stun her with horror and force her to absolute obedience.

The interior looked like an emergency room in a hospital, which hadn't been through any redecoration for decades. Matte tiles on the walls and floor in perfectly bland shades of aquamarine, gray and ecru were chipped, most of them were unevenly applied or even peeling off. Appliances stored in this place were broken or badly rusted and not suitable for any further use. Sara thought it resembled her a junkyard... a very specific junkyard with detained humans.

 _Is this the 'garbage', where he throws 'waste' from the experiments or 'test subjects' that are no longer needed? Or after they passed their expiry date?_

The room was occupied by three people, sitting in three separate cells, while the fourth one included a door. The walls of the pens did not touch each other and were placed in the four corners of the room so that the prisoners could see one another. In terms of its size, cells bore some similarities with the public toilets, but instead of any doors, they were protected by constantly phasing, transparent pale pink layers, resembling frosted glass. It was surprisingly decorative solution in this forsaken place, but beauty was not as essential as the usability. Sara moved closer to one of the cells and in a moment recognised these are force fields, possibly weakening the supernatural abilities of the inmates.

Then, she promptly scanned the prisoners themselves, and assessed her chances of success as even lower than at the time of her initial entry.

The two men differed in almost everything. One of them was a young Asian native, who could just have finished high school. He greeted Sara with a challenging look from under slanting eyelids, and his handsome face bore quite nasty, angry expression. He also had a tattoo on one of his bare arms. It was a pictogram from Korean alphabet, which she could not decipher, but the character was so distinctive to give her a hint which language it belonged to.

His neighbour, sitting in the opposite corner of the room, was probably already over forty. He had a swarthy complexion and black, graying hair, which was cut very short. The way he laid his body and his closed eyes suggested that he was asleep, with his back against the wall. Sara, however, paid attention to details. The man's eyelids were too tightly clenched to believe that he was really asleep. In fact, he was likely to be listening to what was happening, hoping that this time he would not be selected for testing.

The only woman in the group was a true curiosity, but she seemed to be the quietest and certainly did not pretend to be someone else than she was. Her large, dark brown eyes, looking strangely young for her prematurely aged, wrinkled face, were staring at the unexpected guest with a mixture of hope and concern.

Immediately after entering the prison cell, Sara thought that a woman had short, gray hair, but closer inspection revealed that she was almost completely bald, save for a few gray wisps over the forehead. She was looking sickly, gaunt and her sunken cheeks could indicate that she was missing some teeth.

The three of them did not make any move, and Sara thought grimly, that if it was their daily existence, none of them would last much longer.

 _It's not good,_ she mused. _They are almost comatose. No wonder this bastard told me to take care of them. Without any help, they won't get any better. Isolation in the laboratory must have caused some kind of hypnosis or trance, as a result of which they forgot who they are. Despite the mess, this place is neatly kept and someone has to clean it up, to prevent the infections of bacteria and parasites. Because otherwise... they are already at the stage where if it wasn't for the kindness of this madman, they would have drowned in their own feces._

Although the initial assessment proved to be vastly negative, she had to act. Sara took a few steps forward and made her entrance with a warm smile. Despite the cold, emotionless demeanor she took on when dealing with the Espada, she was in fact a cheerful, charming companion. Now it was the time to make use of the more optimistic side of her personality. In an almost effortless fashion, without appearing fake, she began to talk with the prisoners.

"Hello" she greeted them politely. "I'm so glad I've found friends in this awful place!"

She didn't add anything else, because her words did not cause any reaction. Her self-confidence fell slightly, but she couldn't back out from this deal now.

"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" she asked, trying a different language "Ich hatte einfach Angst, aber es wird nichts so heiß gegessen, wie es gekocht wird. Wir haben sich getroffen in dieses Laboratorium. Das ist eine gute Chance für uns, nicht wahr?"

And again there was no response.

 _I might as well sing ꞌIch bin Ausländer und spreche nicht gut Deutschꞌ or ꞌMeine Oma fährt im Hühnerstall Motorradꞌ and there would be absolutely no feedback, not even an acknowledgement. This is bad, really bad..._

For a moment, she considered even reciting in an absolutely serious tone ꞌNa Jožina z bažin, koho by to napadlo, platí jen a pouze práškovací letadlo*ꞌ to check if anyone would understand the language, but after a short deliberation she found it extremely distasteful. Especially since the titular Jožin was pretty close, although not lurking in the marshes, but observing them through cameras.

"Privet" she made another attempt, this time in Russian, looking pointedly at the sleeping prisoner. "Vrag ne dremlet'. A pokoj nam tol'ko snitsya."

The oldest man in the group opened his eyes, but at the same time, he pushed himself even further into a corner. Sara could clearly see a hint of understanding on the woman's features, however, she did not respond or gave any inclination if these words were a hit or a miss.

As Sara was speculating whether to attempt get the rust off her very basic Serbian mixed with Croatian and couldn't decide on saying either 'kruha', or 'hljeb' when asking for food, the bald prisoner finally detached herself from the wall. She leaned forward as much as she could, not touching the force field, to maintain eye contact with the neighbor, who was pretending to be sleeping earlier.

She was speaking the language, which at the beginning seemed to be Russian. Sara was happy to hear several Russian terms, because it meant that the last attempt was a success. But her face thinned as her interlocutor blurted out a stream of words, which Sara could not understand at all. She noted some familiar-sounding expressions, on the basis of which she concluded that the man's name is Christian or Cristian. There was also a statement about the Espada number eight, but this issue had to wait for its turn to deal with, because at the same time the man spoke.

"Mira..." he sighed "Octava Espada strana nepobedima. A my strana nepuganych idiotov. Esli khochesh' perevodit' strelki..."

Sara listened attentively, being in awe that his Russian was perfect, much better than hers. After all, Christian or Cristian was not a typical eastern name. Trace of an accent didn't tell her anything more, though she began to wonder if he didn't originate from one of the former Yugoslavian countries. In such case, he would be called Kristijan.

Meanwhile, a woman named Mira responded, causing Sara to become even more confused. Now she was more certain than ever that the language she could hear was not Russian. The flow of speech was different, the words sounded rather rough and the recurring endings "to" and "ta" made the sentences a bit robotic.

"...energiyno poleto" Sara managed to caught the finishing line.

"Eto pole ne opasno dlya menya" she interjected, hoping to steer the conversation in the direction she deemed promising. "I escaped from my cell, and now I will help you all to get out of here."

Mira and Christian/Cristian/Kristijan looked at her in consternation, when a young Korean snorted quietly.

"It's probably a trap" he said in English. He spoke this language somewhat slowly and with a funny intonation suggesting that every sentence is ending with a question mark, but he could be understood without any problems. "We'll go with her and arrive at some other jail. Or in a cage full of hollows that will eat our souls."

"We can also stay here and wait to die" she added in slightly offended tone. "The choice is yours. I'm not going to sit on my hands and wait till the end."

Prisoners were silent, apparently not knowing what to say. Korean made a gesture, indicating that he considered her insane.

"By the way, I'm Sara Morgenstern" she said after a while.

"Moeto ime e Mira Ilieva. Az sam Balgarka."

 _Well, of course, Bulgarian! Unique Slavic language with English grammar._

"Cristian Lupei" the dark-haired man introduced himself "din Moldova."

 _In Moldova, both Russian and Romanian are the official languages. If only comrade Lupei didn't pretend sleeping, I stand a chance to get along with him._

"Han Je Soon" said the Asian boy reluctantly. "Everyone calls me Jason."

"There are four of us" recapitulated Sara. "We can oppose one Espada."

Cristian smiled with slight pity, Jason gave her a look of superiority and Mira's expression was as if she was about to cry.

Suddenly, Sara felt petrified as she heard a scream, coming from the door in their room. She could hardly recognize if that was actually the human voice.

"It's Ahmad" explained Jason. "All the same, all the time. Better ignore him..."

"Maybe he needs something..." Sara began hesitantly, walking to the door of his cell.

She took a deep breath before touching the force field generator, located in the doorframe. Previously, she studied the local defense mechanisms, and knew where she should look for hidden traps. Preparation work significantly helped her in getting the thing done.

When the shield disappeared, Sara gently pushed simple, gray door. As the last hurdle was gone, she entered a small, dim room. In the place basked in shadows, she saw huddled figure. While she took several steps forward, her heart leapt to her throat.

Man with Arabic features, dressed in nothing but a loincloth, was tied with a thin wire, which surrounded him like as if he was a fly ensnared in a spiderweb. When he noticed that someone had come, his body suddenly started shaking. He made several attempts to free from the shackles holding him in place. Sara took a step back, ready to retreat because it seemed to her that such strings would not be able to withstand the strength of a strong man with supernatural muscles.

Ahmad, as they called him, not only didn't manage to break free, but apparently was struck by some form of spiritual attack. He stopped moving for a brief moment, which seemed out of the blue and when he emerged from a stupor, his body became out of control. All the time he was muttering under his breath, and this monologue sounded like a mantra or a prayer. His chanting intensified and random words were spoken in English. As far as the meaning was concerned, most likely it was a kind of hymn against his enemies. Repeated phrases concerning enslavement of 'infidels', starting jihad in Europe, torture, executions and rape were not that unusual, considering the standards of Hueco Mundo. At least it wasn't that much different from the methods used by the arrancar, but Sara acted like a bull seeing a red rag. Issues with Syrian refugees and the terrorist attacks in the European Union suddenly became closer, more palpable than the task at hand.

This was not the proper timing to show open animosity towards Ahmad, because he was one of the prisoners, that is, he was a victim. And both Sara as well as the Espada needed Ahmad, albeit for two extremely different purposes. She couldn't afford to lose time and energy to convince him he was not right. In all likelihood, someone as fanatical as him would not understand her, because her personal views stood in conflict with his religion. Her first target was winning the favour of the other three. Afterwards, Ahmad would be dealt with, either indirectly, by combined efforts of Mira, Jason and Cristian, or directly by Sara confronting him.

But how exactly any common ground between Sara and Ahmad could be found?

She stood over him defenseless, helpless, looking into his eyes possessed by madness. His face was like a piece of wax, upon which someone molded primal, barbaric anger.

"Nonononono!" he shouted in a blood-curdling tone "Eat! Let me eat it! Her arm or a leg! Without an arm or a leg, she can still be able to give birth to my bastards!"

Meanwhile, an alarm went off.

"Pole snova vklyuchilos'!" she heard a warning from Cristian

Not having many options to choose from, Sara hurriedly escaped from the prison cell.

 _* a Czech classic:_ _watch?v=S4aqM_wu6Ns_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI

After this doubtfully pleasant visit she paid to her inmates, the first thing Sara did, was to take a hot bath. After her skin started turning red, exposed to hot water, she left this unusual sauna and changed into clean clothes. When she shortly summarised impressions from today's conversations with the other prisoners as a failure, she quickly went on to consider the next problem to solve.

Szayelaporro would not allow her to withdraw from this peculiar task. If she got an opportunity to step into his shoes, she would continue with this charade. Even if the story about the group of humans not suitable for experiments was not entirely true, he must have had a lot of fun watching her attempts to communicate with the representatives of other nationalities. He probably enjoyed as well her fraternising with a deranged Muslim who - instead of cooperating with anyone else in the team - wanted to start a total holy war in the name of the Quran.

The mere thought about Ahmad made her sick.

Therefore, she concluded that she needs to take on this task from a different perspective and before she would return to the prison cells, perhaps it would prove useful to clear her mind. For Sara, it essentially meant to involve herself in solving a more compelling mystery. She had quite a few of them to solve, starting with how to make proper use of the local technology, how to navigate the laboratory and finally, how to return home.

Entering her workspace, she breathed audibly when she saw the Espada casually seated on a low chair. She recorded in mind that he was always dressed in identical uniform, covering almost all of his whole body, except the face and hair. He even wore gloves on hands arranged in a clichéd, provocative pyramid.

"How's work, rebel queen?" he asked teasingly

"Why do you ask if you have everything recorded by the cameras? Oh, I see," she feinted sudden arrival of a brilliant thought "you want me to admit that I was beyond any hope."

"I suppose that's a correct assumption."

He placed his hands on the armrests of the chair and leaned slightly forward.

"That's why I would like to hear your version of how it went" he requested, his voice sounding more seriously than a few sentences ago. "I may have seen your performance, but for the sake of future experiments, I would prefer to determine whether it was pure improvisation or a part of the deliberately chosen strategy."

Using the remote, she materialised a second chair in the Espada's proximity and took a seat opposite him. Sitting down, she brushed her blond waves with her fingers and let them fall on the left shoulder. In different circumstances, this gesture could be considered as flirtatious, but Szayelaporro looked at her with a mixture of morbid curiosity and disapproval.

"Most likely, they are all suffering from major depressive disorder. This is a very serious disease in the human world, which requires long-term medical and psychological treatment. It may be caused by many different factors, but the main biological driver is the impaired operation of connections between neurons. The symptoms include various psychosomatic disorders, among other things, irrational pain when performing everyday tasks. Other symptoms include sleep disorders. This may also lead to developing phobias or, in general, most people suddenly start behaving extraordinarily, for example they refrain from eating or defecation."

He raised his eyebrows.

"For someone who doesn't have an in-depth medical knowledge and observed these specimens for a short period of time, you have summarised their condition quite appropriately," he said casually, but she heard praise lingering in his voice. "It sounds logical. This is most likely the reason why none of my drugs caused them any harm or improved their condition."

"I may investigate the ingredients of the most effective pharmaceutical treatments, and based on them, you can prepare the antidote" she suggested.

"A moment ago you mentioned that pharmacological treatment is long-term. How long does it ordinarily take?"

She thought for a moment.

"At least four weeks."

"Then I'm not buying it. I cannot afford to invest so much time in them, not to mention other undertakings you have just indicated. You'll need to find another way how to deal with this group. It has to be effective, but more flexible when it comes to timing. I'd like to have them ready for use within the next days."

"It's impossible" she shook her head. "I can't cure such a serious illness in the deadline you've given me."

"Remember what I said about worthless experiments and throwing them in the trash?" A change came over his voice. It became cold and almost acrid. "Do you really want to share their fate?"

This remark annoyed her so much that it made her raise voice.

"I'd like to kill you. You expect miracles from me and at the same time, you hide the vital information!" she cried out indignantly "Someday I'll kill you!"

She leaned forward and pointed her index finger in his direction. Pretending to commit murder, she lightly jabbed him in the place where his heart should be. To her surprise, Szayelaporro immediately backed away, leaning back in chair, as if her touch burned him.

"Ho ho" he laughed, pointedly putting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "It sounds so seductive that I may even be tempted to follow-up on this. But, on our main topic, what exactly is your problem? You said before that you are not interested in medical details. Apart from these details, I told you everything I know. This is a group of people with supernatural abilities, whose current state is unacceptable to pursue my work further. I don't know anything more about them. Information such as their interests or their personal situation is just putting junk in your memory."

"Is the fact that only one of them speaks decent English not putting junk in your memory?" she replied brusquely "It actually smells a bit fishy, because I don't see how you can communicate with them. Most of them don't speak any western European languages."

"Have you ever heard about applications that translate speech in real time?"

It was not an inquiry. It was an irony, masked by questioning tone and accented with a smirk.

"Very funny" she snapped. "Certainly they wouldn't find it suspicious if the other prisoner is miraculously equipped with a simultaneous interpreter. No, they wouldn't think it is another one of your tricks. Maybe not all humans are those geniuses like you, but a really good portion of us is smarter than your fraccion. Do not underestimate my kind."

"In this manner, we'll now return to our burning issue, that is the strategy you undertook. Are you still convinced this is the most appropriate solution?"

"Of course!" she said without the slightest hesitation "I went through negotiations trainings and I know how to talk to people to achieve my goal. Now I can tell it will take me more time, but it was just one meeting so far. I needed it as a point of reference, as something that will help me establish rapport with the inmates. I admit that I haven't expected such difficulties at the beginning, especially with the language."

"So you have already drawn some conclusions, although you lacked complete data, and now you think it's my fault that you failed? That you suffered a crushing defeat because you expected the task to be ridiculously easy?"

"Who said anything about drawing premature conclusions? I've just started my research. Yes, I could do it better," she tried very hard not sounding like a subordinate apologizing to her boss "but it will require extraordinary preparation. I haven't fully understood the task when we were talking about it before, but now everything is clear to me and I don't see any reason why shouldn't I continue my negotiations."

"I'm really pleased that we were able to clarify this point. By the way, if you'd like to know a little more about my test subjects, I left you a very comprehensive file of my notes. It's the same one where you've found your personal data before" he added. "This application is not particularly user-friendly, which is why I switched to a newer version, and I no longer need the old one. You may use them in any possible means, but I feel obliged to warn you that deleting them will cause me no harm, and may deprive you of an important tool."

When she reached for the tablet, previously considered as useless, she initially stared at the device in disbelief, how much important information she missed because of the language barrier and lack of interest in this source. Now, as she was able to understand Spanish well enough to cope with the notes application, she proceeded to embrace the magnitude of the ideas it contained.

The text was displayed in one big, block paragraph and the word count indicated a number somewhere in the hundreds of thousands. She was convinced that Szayelaporro set her up for another pratfall, offering a key opening many doors, which was completely user unfriendly. However, technical matters were not a challenge for someone with Sara's skills. Before she started reading, she explored the available options. The first and foremost was the bookmarks bar as well as uncovering a table of contents that was previously hidden by the author. She also switched on a search engine, so that she wouldn't need to scroll through the whole passage, but she could focus on the data she was looking for.

She flicked through the majority of the items and usually after reading a few sentences, she moved on to the next page or to the next bookmark, stopping if a name of any of the prisoners was mentioned. She was additionally searching the notes using tags such as 'experimental facilities', 'test subjects' and so on.

While reading, she could not avoid thinking about the author of this compilation.

 _From his perspective, he paid the highest price for being blessed with a genius mind._

Her gaze wandered from the notes to the opposite wall, but she was far from admiring the architecture.

 _What does it mean to be a hollow? How is it like to be an empty shell, incapable of feeling anything more than instinct?_

Sara knew that someday her life would come to an end and she would not be able to escape from death. However, hollows... or the way they were desperately clinging to life and their hunger to possess more power, disregarding the consequences... Was it a proof they were nothing more than warped humanoids? She replied 'yes' without the slightest hesitation.

 _Hueco Mundo is a world full of the worst atrocities. Vasto Lorde class hollows are created in the process of devouring not only the human souls, but also other hollows. They are not only murderers, but cannibals, who went through several abominable transformations._

During her cooperation with the shinigami, she managed to learn this simple definition by heart, but now, when she was in the centre of these worst atrocities, it couldn't clear her doubts. She was aware of specific cases when a young person died suddenly due to illness, which was diagnosed too late or someone, who was a car accident victim. Family and friends were mourning over this great loss... over someone who passed away far too early and had a whole life to live. Everyone would like to have them back... and they would embrace every opportunity to communicate with the dead. Or to send them a message with words that weren't said, but should have been.

Is that how events unfolded in Szayelaporro's life?

No one could deny his numerous talents, including the above-average intelligence and creativity. He reminded Sara of one of the shinigami captains, who was also the head of a research laboratory. The difference was just that Mayuri Kurotsuchi benefited from the experience of his predecessors and had been engaged in his own projects for at least one thousand years. Szayelaporro Granz created his realm of science within one fourth or even one fifth of this timeframe and he had been working on it from scratch. The possibilities of the development of his laboratory were limited only by the imagination of the Espada, which seemed to be racing at the speed of light.

 _These notes are very detailed. After my initial search, I was convinced he is the type to jump from one idea to another. He didn't seem to be able to focus on one concept and implement it thoroughly._

It wasn't unusual that Sara made such comments as part of her analyses. She considered psychological factors to be equally important as the information on military capability. Getting such data was tough, at least it would have been without the support of white hats, but it was surely worth the effort. The psychoanalysis based on the placement of the Espada number, a hollow hole, and a mask could be considered wild speculations. Even if the psychology was just a bunch of vague predictions from a crystal ball, why so many people still believed in horoscopes?

She quickly shook her head as if to chase away those thoughts.

 _Why do I even worry about the fate of a madman who didn't accept his own death, and under the pretext of continuing his 'work', he captures humans and non-humans, and is experimenting on them? This should not be my problem. The issue I should focus on is my return home. I have to run away from this sick world – as someone from my team put it once – as ASAP as practically possible._

She calmed herself a bit and went back to reading.

 _But if I go back home, will it definitely mean that humans can just sit tight when their world is being threatened by the invasion of hollows? Yes. I think I can contribute to this. If I tell the shinigami about Aizen's plans, they will have a chance to stop a wave of hollows, before they can poison the human existence._

This conclusion lifted her spirits. It was still not too late to get out of this prison and fix everything. And the tasks she was currently struggling with were not as pointless as they may have seemed. Their indirect effect would be gaining knowledge about her captor and the operation principles of the Las Noches base and Hueco Mundo as such. That is why she should do her best and fulfill all orders thoroughly... because each success would be like bringing another shovel to the Espada's burial.

Having said that, Sara should also add – not literally. She did not have the possibility to personally kill him, and his death currently wasn't in her best interest. Szayelaporro was right when he pointed out that Sara was kept alive only as a result of his hospitality. Naturally, if it weren't for him, she wouldn't have been captured in the first place, but in case somehow he disappeared, her situation would not improve. She could learn from him a lot. However, if she ended up without his 'support', in the laboratory full of fraccion... she wouldn't want to think about how cursed her fate would be.

Although she was not brave enough to admit she was no longer afraid of the arrancar scientist, she began to hope that his plan didn't equal to immediate - as he put it – 'throwing her in the trash'. Also, his threats recently lost their impact. There was no guarantee how accurately she was reading the Espada's personality, it seemed to her that Szayelaporro believes that the pen is mightier than the sword, and grabs the weapon as the last resort. His laboratory was the place where knowledge and understanding led to the innovative creations to be used by the military structures of Las Noches, but no actual fight was to take place here. Therefore, she could presume that the tests, about which she had heard several times, would not be tantamount to a duel with a random hollow. Otherwise, she should already accept her failure due to her non-existing fighting skills.

At the same time, even if the citizens of Hueco Mundo had no advantage over her, she was not sure whether she would be able to kill any of them cold blooded. The hollows she saw before were out of question, because at first glance it was obvious they are bloodthirsty creatures. But the arrancar created by Aizen adapted human form. They were acting on human instincts such as Szayelaporro with his hunger for knowledge, the desire for understanding more and more, as well as his thirst for extracting information from his test subjects, even if it meant torment and torture.

Sara knew that there was no way to exorcise them and return them to their previous state, but only the cleansing by the shinigami could save them. This, however, also meant ending their post-mortem existence, once and for all.

 _It would be much easier to deal with my stupid remorse for the hollow if he didn't look like a human._

She sighed dreamily.

 _And if he was really a human, could we become good colleagues at work or even friends?_

Suddenly her thoughts reminded her about his unusual proposal. During their discussion, she was absolutely astonished and this feeling was genuine to some degree. But being brutally honest to herself, she had to admit that she saw it coming. Her shock concerned rather the question itself, because she wouldn't have expected to be asked for consent. A hollow, who didn't seize what he wanted, but left the final decision up to the other party, should always be treated with a large dose of suspicion.

However, apart from his peculiar approach to the subject, she predicted it might happen. She knew the Espada needs her for some twisted purposes and the relation between them would, inter alia, involve sex. Some of his comments and the attention he was giving her made it very clear, at least for her. Another telltale factor was the contraceptive injection, which she received at the very beginning.

Apart from the fact that Sara could actually read Szayelaporro's intentions, she wasn't falsely modest enough to consider this course of events as a surprise. No one had to tell her that she was not a gorgeous beauty, but despite that, she had special charisma and personal charm. During her early years, she was regarded as an ugly duckling and when she became adult, the childhood experience gave her the courage to recognise herself not yet as the lovely swan from the fairy tale, but as an attractive woman. It was rather peculiar that her friends, who used to be the hottest girls at school, grew up with heavy luggage of insecurities. It seemed as if they were starting to understand that what they see in the mirror did not fully reflect the praise they had been hearing for many years from their parents. Not to mention that their dates from discos dramatically changed their taste.

Sara experienced exactly the opposite.

She was far from falling into self-admiration and still couldn't get over some of her insecurities, but time proved to her that smile, elegance, class and a sharp mind made people forget she was not perfect. The body and face carved with mathematical precision by the plastic surgeon looked great on the magazine covers, but were defeated during their daily clashes with the reality.

Again she thought about Mayuri Kurotsuchi, this time in the context of his 'daughter.' Nemu Kurotsuchi was not his biological child or not even a proper shinigami, but a masterpiece of state-of-the-art technology. She came into existence by combining a faux body and an artificial soul from 'Konpaku cells.' The effects of this merger were truly spectacular, because the 'test-tube shinigami' was lithe, fast and strong in battle, yet she looked like a beautiful, young woman with mysterious green eyes, a thick braid of dark hair and a slim, athletic silhouette.

Even though hailed as captain's masterpiece and his perfect invention, Nemu did not seem happy or even content. Whenever Sara had seen her, the woman never smiled and very rarely spoke. At first she thought that the shinigami lieutenant looks down on her, not wanting to talk to a human without any powers. Eventually, Sara realised that the reasons for her behaviour are quite different.

Nemu was not arrogant and proud, but shy and introverted. Her silent, melancholic demeanor was a kind of a side effect of the current cooperation with the captain. Kurotsuchi treated his subordinates as objects or tools and ordering them to be meat shields or cannon fodder was nothing peculiar in his modus operandi. His lieutenant dutifully complied with all of his orders, even with the most humiliating ones. But since she was not a fanatic, who blindly followed her leader, it was visible how tough it was to work for him.

Sara was also certain that Mayuri was sleeping with her. Besides her strong belief she had absolutely no proof and the Twelfth Division didn't use to gossip about their superiors, so she couldn't report his unethical behaviour to the head captain Yamamoto (although she was willing to do so). She was convinced it was true, because otherwise the captain would probably prefer a guy loaded with muscles to take care of all the dirty work. Or, possibly, a woman with a bodybuilder appearance, making the opponents run in fear.

In such case, Szayelaporro Granz didn't seem a bad option...

 _Enough of this nonsense._

She scolded herself.

 _He is dead. Irrevocably dead and nothing I do can bring him back to life._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter VII

Trying to switch off her internal moral compass, Sara decided to return to the prison cells, where Szayelaporro kept her inmates. She made a second attempt to befriend them, which in consequence would overcome their depression and make them listen to her recommendations on various issues. She decided to treat them with some very sophisticated bait, to finally pull the rod and catch some fish on the hook.

Taking advantage of the mostly helpless victims, whose total desperation was hindering their logical thinking, was beyond the upper limit of perfidious deeds and overwhelmed her with cruelty. The sad fact that she had no authority to abolish Szayelaporro's order and worked under pressure hadn't changed anything, because theoretically she could confront the arrancar. She could refuse. This would entail an imminent death sentence, but there was such a possibility. She could have made such choice.

Therefore, as she was determined to live, she also had to accept the consequences of her decision. At the same time, to achieve success in her current undertaking, she could not let dilemmas blind her reasoning. Others should think that she was just a young, energetic person who wanted to help everybody get out of the lab. No element of what she presented during previous meeting should arise anyone's suspicions, but Sara was aware how easily this image could be spoilt or exaggerated.

She also took into account the possibility that she could avoid confrontation with the prisoners because she would escape until that time would come. It was fairly unlikely, however, Sara had to believe that, even if not now, she would certainly accomplish it in future. She could not afford stagnation to paralyze her efforts. She noted a pleasant progress when she developed a mechanism for opening the transitions between the different segments in the laboratory. She was working on it constantly from the moment when she had discovered that the armoured door is an illusion. Accidental solution did not satisfy her, because she wanted to understand the mechanics properly.

Her latent spiritual powers helped her in identifying vital hints. The more she practiced operating the local technology and developing applications, the more accurately she was able to detect power nodes or, essentially, the points where the energy level was constantly maintained at a higher level than in the immediate vicinity. As diligently as she could, she outlined their location on her amateur version of the map and observed that even this simplified model showed a certain pattern.

The nodes were placed in the areas where the different parts of the lab should be connected by corridors or bridges, but in the material sense there was nothing. Since Sara did not believe that any part of the laboratory is blind (there was no reason for such arrangement), the explanation proved to be self-evident. Still, she needed to verify this hypothesis in practice. She was feeling some trepidation, although not fully justified, since the solution turned out to be very simple.

It was enough to touch the corresponding point.

Seemingly, nothing happened, and the only indication that she targeted the right place was an oddly out of place sensation, lasting no more than a fraction of a second, as if her hand had touched an icicle. Tingling on the skin was gone quite quickly, and while massaging fingertips, a silver circle appeared out of thin air. Before the circle took its final shape, it had twisted a few quick spiral turns, and then, divided itself into eight equal parts, hanging before her eyes. On each of them, there was an arrow and a caption in Spanish. Sara could read one of such captions as 'more (options)' and as this was the only label she could understand, she touched this button, albeit her hand was slightly trembling when she made the move.

The panel responded by displaying her something like a second page with a list of available items. The names didn't ring a bell, but she guessed from the context these are different sectors of the laboratory.

 _I have to remember as much as possible, and then check these terms in the translator._

It was, however, a petty issue, since even more important was understanding of the principles of transitioning through intangible passages and the follow-up discovery. After selecting the location on the panel, the silver circle disappeared, and a tunnel was being uncovered on one of the walls. Sara even peeked inside, but all she could see was utter darkness, which she found highly discouraging. Not knowing what was on the other side made her abandon further checks of this method of transportation.

 _Now I'm just doing harmless prying, nothing more_ , she told herself. _Next time I'll have to try to mess around._

Sara thought of her spiritual abilities as one of the factors that made the Octava Fraccion listen to her orders. Perhaps they also recognised her as their superior, judging her status based on the uniform of Aizen's army that she wore. She was free to wander around the lab and she was speaking Spanish – this should be a clear indication that she was not a prisoner, nor an experiment, and consequently they should treat her on similar terms as their master. Conversing with Szayelaporro's fraccion was a huge overstatement, because the modified arrancar answered in monosyllables or very simple sentences, like small children learning how to speak. Her instructions or questions were formulated in a similarly uncomplicated way to have at least some guarantee they understood them correctly.

Because usually Sara was able to trigger the Octava Fraccion into activities she indeed had in mind, she acknowledged that it was possible to establish effective communication with them. The arrancar created by Szayelaporro were particularly helpful in matters that didn't require much thinking. She was also relieved since they didn't seem to have aggressive attitude towards her. Lumina and Verona were fond of playing around, but they were relatively harmless.

Although having cold feet, Sara found a resolve to carry on and take the bull by the horns, and initiate the next meeting with the prisoners. This time she was prepared to a greater degree and before leaving, she carefully studied Szayelaporro's notes with information about the four. Their scope was mainly related to the physical and mental capabilities of the 'test subjects' with a lot of details that were confusing even when translated into English. With her professional analyst sense, she was not bogged down by the overwhelming technicalities, and focused on more relevant paragraphs. She learned that Cristian was an icebender, Mira - an esper, Jason - an empath, and Ahmad's superhuman strength, speed and durability were the result of transplanting cybernetic implants, provided by the ISIS.

Sara also took note of dictionaries and translators online to be able to communicate with prisoners in their native languages. It was a very basic vocabulary, so she didn't expect a particularly sophisticated conversation, but the key issue was to gather information and to provide a well-defined message. She wouldn't make that happen straight away, since spreading the propaganda required a series of visits in the prison cells. The task was highly sensitive as well and couldn't be accomplished by her being too direct or forceful. In similar circumstances Szayelaporro behaved like a bull in a china shop, which he seemed to realise, considering her involvement in negotiations. Although Sara was not one of the most empathetic people under the sun, she had the advantage of being a human. Reading other humans and their non-verbal communication came to her easily.

Cristian was the most open person among them. Sara deliberately started asking him personal questions, and he fell into the trap of leaving himself exposed to her analyses. From word to word, she managed to find out that in order to earn some extra money to improve his modest budget, he took part in illegal activities that involved his ice-wielding powers. As a result of one such contract, he got captured and transported to Hueco Mundo as a 'promising test subject'. He left his wife and daughter in Chisinau, who barely made their ends meet. He used to mention his family very often, especially being concerned about the financial security of 'his girls'. Cristian hoped that his wife would arrange funds to pay the rent for their flat, which was his duty before he was abducted. Sara quickly saw an ample opportunity to play with his motivation to come back to the human world. For Cristian, regaining freedom didn't matter as much as preserving his guardianship over his family.

She gave up on Ahmad almost immediately, because apart from the language barrier - his English was very poor and the only phrases he seemed to master concerned cursing 'infidels' - she could not find anything in common that would make them break the ice. He seemed to regard other people according to what his religion told him and the best that he could call her was a servant. As she heard from other prisoners, she wasn't an exception, and any attempt of contact was brutally finished with a string of cuss words.

Jason was a man deeply secretive and unapproachable, but Sara quickly noticed that his extreme introversion is connected with fear of rejection. She was able to communicate with him, because his attitude was reminiscent of her own school years, when she had been considered an ultra-nerd. That is why she was able to understand Jason and offer him sympathy. She praised his achievements when he talked about his exemplary scores in science, taking on a whole lot of extra-curricular activities, and his application to study at the Princeton University in California. Having been accepted as a student at a foreign, prestigious university was, in his mind, a measure of his success.

Yet, Sara wanted to reach out primarily to Mira. Her appearance suggested that she had been through a great deal of trauma, but without knowing what had actually happened, she could not help her. By investigating the Bulgarian's past, Sara could also assess why she met such fate and learn from Mira's experience when interacting with the Espada. So far, however, she had to solve maybe not so fascinating and more down-to-earth, albeit the most important of the existing problems, which was communication. Mira seemed to understand Russian, but had she ever responded, she spoke only in her native language. She looked somewhat alerted when Sara and Jason were talking in English, although it was not quite clear whether the sound was familiar to her, or was she able to deduce the meaning of words. Sara, in turn, didn't speak Bulgarian (except for the very basic vocabulary learnt by using an online dictionary), and showing what she wanted to say with gestures was taking so much time and effort that she gave it up shortly. Also, using the sign language had limited use. More complicated issues, sadly, were excluded from such exchanges. In addition, the more Sara tried to open up her inmate, the more alienated Mira became, making it very difficult to have a decent, casual conversation.

Sara's hyperactive imagination didn't need many incentives to come up with her own explanation for the prisoner's condition. According to her logic, Mira must have experienced tremendous shock or an exceptionally traumatic event, which led to her gradual withdrawal and depression. There was no doubt that the turning point came when she was in the laboratory and most probably was connected with the Espada. Sara was considering several different versions how the relationship of Mira and Szayelaporro might have look like, although the most brutal one seemed to be fairly obvious. And quite appropriate.

 _Would my case be the same? Will I also become such a wreck? And I won't even be aware of my own death, because of madness eating my brains out?_

The Bulgarian did nothing to confirm Sara's suspicions, nor denied them. Frequently she was simply staring at the ceiling, and sometimes even participated in the conversations, but only in the physical sense. She was entirely absentminded, caught in her own world. Although maintaining eye contact, Sara was able to see that Mira was thinking about something else.

 _She's not that obstructive like Ahmad, but she doesn't help much... What's her point?_

After the first meeting, Sara could draw the conclusion that the Bulgarian became friends with Cristian, but it was not entirely true. She felt that in a way Mira was distrustful towards him. Both frequently criticised each other, and the ideas they exchanged. Sara could not pick too many of the Bulgarian expressions, but she recognised presenting a completely different point of view in comparison with Cristian's belief.

 _It was not that long ago when I started talking to them. Oddly enough, now their relationships are getting even more confusing._

Many of these observations pointed to the fact that Mira might have supported Szayelaporro and perhaps acted as his spy, but it was barely a fraction of the truth. Both Cristian and Jason turned to her for advice, even in spite of differences in their opinions and were listening to her reasoning without any questioning. It was quite significant in case of the Korean. Because of his withdrawn attitude and lack of a natural need of establishing relationships with other people, Sara would expect his hostile reception.

 _What is she doing? Why she is not trying to escape? If she's an esper, I assume that she is capable of even more than reversing the waterfall's flow. And even with her power blocked, she won't give up, fighting until the end... and who I'm trying to fool? A true esper wouldn't have herself trapped in the first place!_

At a time when Sara mused, listening to Jason's overlong and mostly pointless digressions, she felt someone's insistent gaze. Mira's big eyes were staring at her intensely, and although the Bulgarian's expression was cordial, indicating that she is listening carefully to the conversation, the younger woman shivered, experienced similar sensation as if observed by a cobra.

 _What was that?_ After leaving the cell, Sara's thoughts were flying like a wild hurricane. _Who is she? What happened to her?_

After several consecutive meetings with prisoners, she felt it was the right time to make her move and turn her elaborate plan into reality. Admittedly, basing important decisions solely on her own belief was not reasonable, but Sara didn't want to prolong something she was not comfortable with. She was also aware that Szayelaporro would not wait indefinitely for any tangible results. Clearly he was in a hurry, although Sara didn't know why. It could be Aizen's order, but such explanation was far too simple to be true.

Since she was lacking the full picture, she couldn't properly anticipate the next steps. Virtually anything could happen, including the harmless final phase of testing on humans. This was one of the possibilities, however, Sara didn't believe it for a second. She expected a true horror to come and the closer she was to convincing the prisoners, the more intensive her fear became.

She was also wondering what would happen to her and how the arrancar would keep his end of the bargain. He could consider her joining those mysterious tests quite amusing.

 _He won't do it. Not now. It's still too soon,_ she tried to reassure herself. _Things that happened to me until now were simple exercises. He probably wants me to take part in something even more dehumanizing._

She didn't have any evidence to support this idea, but it seemed to her that the four prisoners were some kind of a prelude before initiation of a more complicated process, and Szayelaporro wasn't focused on them as such, but rather on the transition to the next phase of whatever he planned.

"I believe that we should start to act" she adopted a serious tone, suited to the occasion, sitting cross-legged on the cold floor. "Still, we won't achieve anything by using brute force. We have to outsmart the Espada, to be able to get out of here."

"Tell us something we don't know" said Jason provocatively.

Sara shrugged her shoulders.

"All right. I devised a plan on how to escape from Hueco Mundo. It has a chance of success, as in one wing of the laboratory I saw a portal, which hollows use to penetrate our world. What we have to do is get to the portal and go through it."

"It sounds a lot easier than it actually is" said Cristian critically. "You forgot about the monitoring installed in the entire laboratory. If we suddenly start running in one direction, it will raise suspicions. Not to mention that we'll also need to get rid of the force fields."

"We can wait until the Octava Espada turns them off" Jason unexpectedly supported the idea. "Or one of his servants will do it. You know, they sometimes need to get through the barriers to clean here."

"If we lull the hollow into feeling a false sense of security, we'll have a chance in a direct challenge" she affirmed with unshakable confidence, which, as she noticed, received positive reactions from her inmates. "There are four of us, or rather five, including Ahmad..."

"I wouldn't count Ahmad in" said Jason. "He may rat on us. Or do something unexpected."

"In any event, even without Ahmad, the Espada is outnumbered" she assured them. "It works in our favour. The Octava Espada doesn't know our languages and doesn't understand what we are talking about."

"What's your point?" asked Cristian "How specifically can we outsmart the Espada?"

"By doing exactly what is expected of us."

"And do you know what he expects of us?"

"I may guess" she confirmed with concern in her voice. "And I presume that it wouldn't be too pleasant. It's just that it's our only chance."

Jason shook his head.

"I don't like it. I don't like the prospect of sacrificing myself in the name of don't know what. Especially that we don't know whether this is going to work."

Judging from Cristian's expression, she understood that he was not fully convinced, either, but he communicated it diplomatically, asking:

"And what about you? What would you do?"

Sara almost jumped on her seat. This was the part she was waiting for! Making use of her acting skills, she was feinting huge embarrassment before getting down to the answer.

"The Octava Espada wants me to sleep with him" she failed to conjure pretty blush ad hoc, however, she managed to create the impression of being most uncomfortably ashamed. "I don't know why it's so important to him, but he insists that I'll... I'll do it willingly. Until now, I was able to turn him down without any consequences. I'm just afraid that if I keep rejecting him all the time, he'll rape me."

"Sick pervert" Jason growled, and immediately uttered other, even more vulgar opinions about Szayelaporro's alleged ultimatum.

"That's why I decided to accept his... request," she went on with her head down, while surreptitiously peeking at Mira "to seize the moment when he is absorbed and try to restrain him, so he won't be in our way."

At this point, she did a great job keeping up her serious and shy pose, because both men clearly felt even more awkward than she appeared to be.

"I haven't thought about it" the Korean sounded worried. "Probably the things he planned for us are no fun, but you... You don't have participate in the plan... in this way."

"That would be horrible!" agreed Cristian "Quite disgusting!"

"Maybe he won't lay a finger on us. Note that we can easily win by being obedient rather than by rebelling openly as the latter will be immediately and brutally ceased. If we execute this part flawlessly, and at the same time, we will act as our personalities dictate, in line with the Espada's expectations... he won't suspect anything" it was a blatant lie, but Sara went even further in deceiving her inmates. "This method is drastic and exposes all of us to very tough circumstances, but I believe that for the sake of our common cause, we are able to overcome the discomfort and come off victorious."

"For our common cause" repeated the Moldavian.

Jason nodded.

"For our freedom!"

Cristian then turned to Mira, who looked as if hypnotized, and using a mix of Russian and Romanian, explained her the main objectives of what they are going to do. The woman nodded, but seemingly she wasn't listening. Her eyes were like hazy, and her voice sounded tired. Sara was relieved to hear that finally they all agreed to set this desperate plan in motion.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII

"Are you happy now?"

Her icy tone contrasted with his excitement so vividly that one could not help feeling that it's a fight, during which emotions were the main weapon in use.

Szayelaporro got - delivered by Lumina and Verona - the news that Mira, Jason and Cristian had been prepared for his visit and would not resist, both in terms of examination, as well as answering any question. As for Ahmad, Sara couldn't promise anything except that he would probably attack anyone who approached him. Therefore, sending a pacifying brigade of the Octava Fraccion seemed the most sensible option.

The arrancar appeared in person a few hours later, in such a good mood that anyone who knew him well, would immediately suspect him of being phony. That is why the question asked by Sara was not so absurd. The fact that the Espada looked pleased, didn't mean he _really_ was, but rather wanted to be seen as such.

She was bitterly upset about the whole situation. All the time while waiting for the verdict, she couldn't focus on any activity other than thinking about the future of the other prisoners. The most frustrating was the fact that at this point she couldn't do anything beyond that. And after the Espada came to visit her, she was supposed only to hear the conclusion. Although she was counting on a kind of gratitude for fulfilling the difficult task, she also hoped that the inmates wouldn't end up as badly as she imagined.

"Congratulations. You did absolutely great" he said with a smug grin, appearing to be glued to his face. "I have no concerns regarding the final outcome of your actions. These puppets have never been so willing to cooperate. If I wanted to turn their innards inside out or feed them with drugs, those idiots wouldn't even say a word! If I told them to go into the chamber full of hungry fraccion, they would think I'm sending them to a great feast!"

"That would be enough" she interrupted him coldly. "I've completed my task, and now you indicate it was done correctly. That's all I need to know. You shouldn't torment me more."

"Torment _you_?" he was startled "But _they_ are subject to more invasive tests, not you. Can the knowledge on these experiments or its lack change anything about their future? And how? Let's make it clear that you don't have any say in this."

"Can lack of knowledge change anything?" she repeated "You bet. I'm not a heartless hollow like you. Unless it's beyond your comprehension, try to imagine that I feel sorry for these people and I try to understand them... I want to help them, so they don't to have to suffer anymore. If you don't plan to send them back to the human world... can you at least consider euthanasia in their cases?"

"Your task was to restore a group of humans to clinically stable condition. My job is to test their special abilities and analyse their genetic material, and gain as much information on them in order to incorporate their powers into my army. That was the agreement between us and the rest are the instructions from my leadership... and a certain amount of my own curiosity. You should not, however, become overly interested in these issues. All of these projects are strictly confidential and if I involved you in them at any stage, I'd have to kill you immediately afterwards" he joked grimly.

"Maybe this would be the best option?" she said indifferently

"Don't be melodramatic" he admonished her. "You've handled the matter even more efficiently than I anticipated, and I am grateful to you. I'll reward you as I promised. I'll also prepare you for the next project and I expect from you at least the same level of performance. I don't have time to baby-sit anyone in this lab, including you, so the sooner you're done with these childish impulses and start achieving tangible results, the better for everyone. Especially to you, because as you know, I'm getting rid of worthless junk without any hesitation."

The last statement was lined with subtle sneer, but his exhilarating humour and joyful attitude disappeared without a trace. The tide shifted in favour of Sara, who was able to make him lose his composure. It was a modest, almost unnoticeable achievement, but in no way insignificant.

"You haven't answered my question about euthanasia" she reminded him quietly, pretending that she didn't hear his reprimand. "Do I have to explain what it is? Do I need to elaborate on the empathy and how do I feel connected with the other people?"

"I know the meaning of 'empathy' and 'euthanasia', but I don't understand concepts that stand behind them. It's a waste of time to wonder what kind of sad stories sit in people's heads. And it doesn't matter if the person in question is an arrancar, a shinigami, or a human. Also, 'merciful death'? What kind of mercy is that, when you clearly make someone understand that they are ordinary trash, wasting oxygen and other natural resources, and should no longer exist?

"It's the dying person who asks for euthanasia" she corrected him gently, though his arguments were starting to irritate her enough in order to persuade him in a much less civilized manner. "I shouldn't decide myself that someone is no longer worthy to live. I simply execute the will of a sick person, who'll die anyway, with the intention to alleviate their suffering.

His frown was barely noticeable.

"You're wrong" he said briefly. "None of these test subjects asked me for a quick death. They were whimpering for mercy, for an anesthetic, to return home... but I haven't heard anyone from this group wishing to die by my hand. That probably does it, right?"

She shook her head.

"If you can't provide them with anything from their wishlist, then at least let them finish this continuous chain of humiliation."

The scientist's smile grew wider.

"You think that you are helping them this way? Or is it just that you don't want them to know about our cooperation? You'd prefer to be seen as a kindred spirit, who descended from heavens, supporting this group to get out of this very frightening laboratory" he said in a mocking tone. "If they disappear into oblivion, they wouldn't find out that your 'help' moved them closer to the human world in the same extent as if they wanted to go there by a vehicle on square wheels."

For a long moment they were eyeing each other with wary looks.

"The one does not exclude the other" she said at last. "I don't like overcomplicated solutions."

"Honestly," this introduction suggested that the next part of the sentence may not be consistent with his beliefs "I see no reason why the opinion of that four would have any meaning for you. Why do you find it so important that they consider you as a friend?"

"I wouldn't use such strong words. The relationship between us is not deep enough to be considered friendship. So I don't feel like a traitor. But that doesn't mean I'm going to turn my back on people who helped me by doing what I've told them to do. It seems natural that I'd like to repay my debt. Their opinion on me is irrelevant. It's rather a question of my own conscience."

"Unbelievable" he summed up in a deriding manner. "I don't know what else to say about your immature efforts to make yourself feel better at the expense of others."

"I see that you, in turn, are stubborn as a mule" she replied. "With your rigid judgement, you can't even understand that for the sake of these people I'm risking my life and my sensitive hearing, listening to your pathetic psychoanalysis. If you really believe that I wanted to talk to you about the prisoners because of my selfish motives, let's close this topic. There's one more thing I'd like to discuss."

His rudely dismissive listening stance was driving her crazy, but the issue in question was too important to lose her head.

"What is this matter about?"

"I decided to accept your generous offer, provided it's still valid."

The expression on his face changed abruptly.

"It is. I thought that trying to meet the variety of your expectations is going to be interesting" he rose hastily. "Follow me. I've made some custom preparations especially for you."

"What?" she blurted out, completely taken aback "You want be so quick to get it over with?"

It was only after she realised she was talking to an empty chair.

"Pardon?" he asked, stopping at the threshold

"Nothing, nothing" she corrected herself. "I was talking to myself."

He smiled broadly.

"Let's go. I've been waiting for this moment for so long..."

Szayelaporro was walking very hastily and it was difficult for Sara to keep up with him. Looking at his back, she was wondering whether he was really in a hurry. Probably he just wanted to annoy her with this long and intense, although unnecessary walk. In all likelihood, they were going round in circles to conceal their location.

It was interesting to speculate, where would be their destination this time. Would it be another torture chamber, or perhaps an examination room? Without any doubt, the arrancar's sense of humour included various options of aggravating her under the pretext of granting a 'reward'. This would be a perfect precaution, reminding her the most appropriate place for a human in the local hierarchy. By no means, she shouldn't reckon her word as any real driving force in Las Noches.

Because of Sara's experience in Hueco Mundo so far, she was suspicious about almost everything, promised herself to be vigilant and to pay attention to details. Furthermore, her unexpected acceptance was going to be a part of her revenge.

 _I'll make him pay_ , she told herself silently. _I'll make him pay dearly. He'll regret that he captured me. I'll make him feel like during the exam with an extremely demanding teacher. He gave me the perfect method to achieve my goal._

In addition, the arrancar openly despised humans, considering them to be inferior species. Physical contact with one of such kind must have been a terrible mongrelisation of his race.

As far as Sara's views were concerned, she didn't assess the situation as black or white.

Due to obvious moral dilemmas, she didn't feel comfortable with the prospect of broadening the scientist's collection of one night stands, although she didn't consider Szayelaporro disgusting. She was certain of choosing the lesser of two evils. At this point, it was her decision, taken independently, without any pressure. She thought that even if she refused, the Espada would eventually force her into submission. And such possibility would not only strip her of any dignity, but also would make her brimming in fury that a man was entertaining himself with her body.

Hence, she preferred to settle the matter on her own terms. Now she could impose her conditions. She could demand their enforcement. She could count on the fact that the other party would understand her and agree.

When Sara once again confirmed to herself that her decision was the only logical way to properly deal with the situation, Szayelaporro halted in his walk. He silently opened a simple, single door and invited her inside.

The room was rather small, but bright colours and minimum of furniture made it much more spacious. It could be regarded cozy in spite of resemblance to stark, sterile interiors Sara had previously seen in the laboratory. The whole room was bathed in white. Large, smooth surfaces at the front were devoid of any ornaments or details – they were designed to reflect and multiply the surroundings. The other two walls were lined with white, quilted leather. Clean, white backdrop made the bed almost invisible, blending into the whole setting. A shiny tile serving as a headboard was the only feature reminding of a bedroomlike vibe.

The lighting was one element breaking from the white scheme. A glowing snake, writhing on the ceiling, was giving different colour effects every second, and their walking silhouettes created a beautiful shadow play. At the same time, thin swirls above them couldn't break completely through the darkness, creating an aura of mystery.

One of the walls had a broad shelving, serving as a cocktail trolley. Two small plates and a platter were filled with modest refreshments.

Szayelaporro reached for a gel snack in a tiny glass and swallowed it in one gulp. Sara preferred not to inquire what it was.

"Help yourself" he offered, as if they were having a friendly chat.

She looked at fruits and appetizing-looking cakes on a platter, analysing them thoroughly with her eyes.

"I'm sure they are loaded with narcotics" she said sharply. "Or sleeping drugs, so you can get away with fulfilling your end of the bargain."

"Not at all" he replied with satisfaction. "These are just subtle aphrodisiacs. They don't react invasively even in the gastrointestinal tract of a humanoid and are excreted in an almost unchanged form."

Her gaze became even more suspicious.

"Whatever" she finally said, reaching for a small piece of a strawberry cake. "Probably I won't get out of here alive anyway, so at least I'll eat something better than your usual rat poison."

He laughed casually, as if he heard a good joke.

"It was nice of you to consider that" she added, tasting a marzipan cupcake. It was delicious, though Sara could have guessed that its ingredients weren't fully natural.

"I didn't prepare it just for you" he said seriously. "Our perceptions of pleasure are different. And, just like you, I also would like to leave this room satisfied. Besides, for quite some time I haven't been with a human..."

The Espada paused as if he realised he disclosed too much information. He quickly changed the subject:

"Do you have anything to tell me before we start?"

"Yes" she admitted, frowning. "I don't want you to touch my face or hair. And no kissing on the mouth. From the neck downwards you may do as you please, but my head belongs only to me."

He nodded in a businesslike manner.

"I understand."

"And do you have any... conditions?" she asked, trying to bring him something in return for his efforts.

"No."

Sara came closer to the wide bed, and was staring for a while, as if trying to read any clues from a piece of furniture. Her inner voice told her to immediately withdraw from this deal and return to her quarters. At this point, however, it would be cowardly, and she didn't want to run away from the enemy. And how would she find the way back? She couldn't remember a single characteristic detail, a sign post of any sort to help her get through the identical corridors. There was also no opportunity to use the map application en route.

Besides, she became more and more curious as regards the form of this 'reward'.

She heard rustling sound behind her, and immediately glanced in this direction. The Espada pulled his shirt off and casually threw it aside. A moment later he unzipped her tunic, and in purely mechanical fashion, like a parent assisting a child, helped her to get rid of the garment. They took off the rest of the clothes on their own, in complete silence. They ran out of words, even when faced against each other, completely naked. Sara tried to take advantage of the opportunity to discreetly peek onto the hollow hole, but it was barely visible. In the dim light she could only see a small black speck, which went straight through the tip vertically, suggesting that there was a piercing. She noted that Szayelaporro was also staring at her and his slightly uneasy appearance made her more confident.

Sara was the first one to break this specific impasse, when none of them could speak or make a single move. She reached towards him with outstretched hand and gently touched the wound, which she recently treated. Her feather-like fingertips had to release some kind of lock, because a moment later he pulled her closer and respecting her wish, he softly kissed her neck. She was impressed by his strength as he effortlessly lifted her and laid on the bed.

Sara was amazed how much effort he put into keeping his word, and not only when he mentioned bringing pure bliss. She had expected that after they are finished, they would at once return to their duties. Or he would try to humiliate her, for example ostentatiously washing his hands, covered with her fluid. Or vomiting things that he swallowed – on the bedding or even on her body. Or he could force her to go through the whole laboratory naked... in front of the other Espada. Or... oh, she was absolutely sure that his inventiveness in this respect surpassed her most outrageous predictions.

Meanwhile, nothing happened and the arrancar was still lying beside her. Since the room was warm, and their bodies were still on fire, none of them covered themselves up. Out of curiosity, she turned over and looked at him, facing an unexpected smug smirk.

"I promised you that we'll spend the night together" he said, as if guessing her thoughts "as opposed to just having a quickie."

He moved closer, so that their faces were millimeters apart from each other.

"You like ordering others around, don't you?"

Sara was sure she's hallucinating. Before she could come up with an answer, he went on:

"So, I'm all ears."

She quietly uttered a few sentences, to which he nodded approvingly, and accurately, with pedantic attention to detail, granted every single request. She was surprised that the hollow, who enjoyed inflicting pain while conducting hideous experiments on humans, was gentle and even tender. Only the glasses-like mask, being oddly out of place, reminded her of who she had as a partner.

Although she felt the effects of aphrodisiacs and his touch no longer induced fear or disgust, her thoughts occasionally drifted to the other prisoners in the laboratory, causing colossal remorse. She couldn't fully relax, pondering on those who unknowingly sacrificed for her, so that she could earn a more lenient sentence from her captor. When she pulled away from him, she was very close to self-flagellation.

He whispered into her ear:

"And if you think about joining forces with this group of third-class waste from my experiments... For your information, our meeting today is being recorded. Since there are cameras in the prison cells, I'll quickly find out that you're running a subversive propaganda... And before you manage to set up a sensible plan of action, your allies will be presented a unique movie depicting the events of this night. Do you believe they'll continue to support a woman who's voluntarily sleeping with an Espada?"

She took a deep breath.

 _I should have expected that... He wouldn't be so self-sacrificing without a valid reason. But he probably thinks of me as a fool. He didn't foresee that this video is in fact a double-edged sword._

Sara flipped over in his direction, smiling falsely.

"It seems to me that the response will be similar to your squad and your boss watching this recording... which would _accidentally_ " she stressed the word "leak during one of your meetings. I would like to see the faces of your colleagues when they find out how your 'research' on humans really looks like."

He laughed, threatening her with the index finger as if she was a child to be scolded.

"Shall we continue?" he changed the subject

She nodded. Paradoxically, she was much more relaxed when he told her straight away that under the pretext of expressing his gratitude, in fact, he gained a strong tool for retaliation.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter IX

After many days spent in the laboratory under close observation, this time Sara was faced with something entirely different. Right now she was left alone to sleep off after pulling an all-nighter, and then undertake whatever she considered appropriate.

She woke up in her own bed - or actually the one allocated as her own - where she was lying alone. Amidst complete silence, she couldn't hear any noises or impatient steps outside the door, which would indicate that no one was waiting for her. She couldn't tell what time was, but guessed it was long past the hour when she usually started work. She couldn't remember the moment of falling asleep, but it had to be late. In addition, she slept so peacefully, as never before, since she had been abducted.

Sara decided to get up, even if no one was looking for her or demanding her presence yet. Having a slow day, spent on indulging in self-pity, would not get her any closer to return home. Besides, she was bursting with energy and it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

She felt her body weightless and the few steps that separated her from the bathroom, were taken almost in the way of walking in the air. All the tension and stress went away. During the past days she devoted considerable time to battling her thoughts, pondering if her actions would prove to be right or wrong, and what sort of exclusive punishments would she earn. Now she discovered her powerful, personal drive and her head was full of ideas on the next moves or issues to explore in greater depth, to reach her primary objective, which was the human world.

After she was done with the make-up, she reached for the powder to apply another layer in order to camouflage the blush. A moment later, she gave up, being against making herself look like a doll. Also, her excitement was too strong to be masked so easily. And the longer she was thinking about the last night, the more vivid her reddish flush became.

It was not about morning revival. At least, it was not only that.

Sara was not among people complaining and lamenting over the effects of each of their decision, whether it was the best choice or not. She always believed in her intuition and was genuinely convinced of doing the right thing. Even when subsequent events showed she was incorrect, she didn't care much. Several times she managed to transform an apparent defeat into success, which made her certain that a human is capable of everything, when given enough time and being sufficiently determined.

Now, however, she needed to deal with her pangs of conscience.

Her thoughts drifted to other humans being kept in the laboratory. She was feeding them with false hope in order to...

...well, to do what? Surely not to seduce the Espada. Sara didn't care in the least about him, she just wanted to survive and return home. In order to achieve this, she was using her inmates, believing that by doing what the scientist expected of her, she could earn his respect and gratitude. In her own opinion, for what she did, she deserved to be the one to blame.

On the other hand, Sara knew there was no rational reason why she should feel guilty. She was in Hueco Mundo, the world of hollows, where the only things that mattered were survival, victory over the enemies and evolution to a higher stage. How did the other prisoners behave? They were held in separate cells, so she couldn't say a lot about their interactions. Due to the language barriers, they didn't talk to each other much. She wouldn't say that they were good friends, either.

The prisoners didn't form a united team, being a rather random collection of individuals, who, if not for the security measures in the laboratory, would turn against each other in order to survive, even at the price of someone else's life. She remembered the reactions of the four during her first appearance and they were far from admiration. Therefore, she assumed that if others were offered the opportunity to extend their life by a few weeks, they would have no scruples to sacrifice someone they barely knew.

It was her intervention that allowed them to regain their human nature. She felt deeply grieved by the premature end of this process. She was given no further chance for befriending prisoners, who became cannon fodder in some shady tests.

 _There was a moment when I believed in what I said... that we can get out of here alive. I would leave Ahmad here, as saving him could bring more harm than it's worth, but I'd take the rest with me. Cristian would return to his family, Jason would travel to the US to study and Mira... I personally would take care of her. I'd find her a good therapist, I'd pay for the regeneration surgery to regain her former appearance and support her in finding a job..._

It was, however, too utopian for the tough conditions in Las Noches. There was no room for sentiments here. Her vision, commitment and confidence that everything she planned would be put into effect, was naivety bordering on stupidity. Even if she mobilized the others to consolidate, which slowly began to work, there were still even more serious problem than overcoming their mutual animosities.

Szayelaporro certainly became suspicious that the trick, which she used to convince the prisoners, could be based on her genuine aspirations. He had to somehow prevent such undesirable progress and prepare elaborate punishment for everyone involved. For the time being, however, he came to the correct conclusion about no revolt and didn't change his approach, especially after her idea occurred to be a success.

There was no way of escape from comparison to the other prisoners. While she was asleep during the worst parts and the scientist threatened to kill her just one time, they were treated literally like lab rats. He had no problem in inflicting pain, abusing them mentally, administrating drugs, causing hallucinations and escalating their fears...

Nevertheless, she was tortured at the beginning. She also underwent humiliating study as the object of the Espada's sophisticated derision, stripped of any privacy, with each of her steps carefully under watch by the cameras. Only when she showed him this wouldn't work as she wouldn't let herself be broken, he began to treat her a little better.

No one could say she didn't undergo the same hell as everyone, but no one else was shown any gleam of hope.

 _Actually, I don't know_ , she was arguing with herself. _I have no idea for how long these people were held in Las Noches, and how they were treated... or rather maltreated. Most likely there were other prisoners before them... and who knows, maybe from time to time there was a 'chosen one' who spied on the rest? Has Mira, Cristian, Jason or Ahmad done something similar in the past? If it was so, they would certainly see through my camouflage. On the other hand, if I stayed here longer and another inmate tried dirty tricks on me... I would personally prefer to die finally to end this hopeless waiting._

It could be also otherwise. There were so many alternatives and each of them seemed perfectly logical explanation. Thoughts about them didn't make Sara any calmer, but rather burdened by guilt, hitting her with uncomfortable, girly blush. And leading other humans straight into a trap set by the arrancar was not the only thing giving her headache.

Another important issue was something that happened yesterday.

Sara was able to turn off the emotions and consider the night spent together as a contract, based on which she was defined as more privileged party. She could not have objections to the implementation of the provisions. The result was to be her pleasure and it was delivered. There was also no doubt that she took the most favourable decision and dealt with the matter on her own terms. As an addendum, she had the satisfaction of getting a chance to exercise authority over the Espada, who was doing whatever it takes to meet her needs.

 _By the way, I wonder how traumatized he was. In the end, he betrayed his ideology!_ she scoffed him in her mind. _From his point of view,_ _satisfying an ordinary human woman is like bestiality. When it was over, he must have surely wept shameful tears of shame._

Mischievous laugh, however, became bitter as guilty conscience followed in violent retribution, when she thought about her boyfriend, almost fiancé, who was waiting for her in the human world.

 _Ernest... he would understand me,_ she thought wistfully _. If he ever found out what happened here, he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I'm simply trying to survive in hostile environment. I'm doing all this... because I want to go back. Because I love him and I don't want to live without him._

While Sara could effectively defend herself against any manipulation, including the emotional blackmail, she could not cope with self-pity after cheating. Sometimes she wished she had similarly liberal approach to sex as most men and some women, who didn't see anything reprehensible in having multiple partners.

 _Strange... There are a lot of reasons why I reacted this way, it was logical, and yet I feel guilty because it was against my principles. As if a statistical guy wouldn't 'sacrifice' himself, warming his captor's bed in order to gain freedom. Well, there's no use in crying over spilled milk. I can't turn back time, and besides, it was a one-off._

Sara comforted herself by the argument that as Szayelaporro received what he wanted, he would lose interest in her and seek someone new instead. She was fascinated by the game they both played, but she was aware that when either party would make a step too far, she was the one to take the risk. Therefore, it was in her best interest to discontinue it within a reasonable timeframe. The fact that the Espada was appealing, and in normal circumstances she would have tried to become friends with him, was to be ignored.

 _Time to get my head from the clouds,_ she criticised herself. _I should deal focus on my modest capabilities to fight with the Espada._

She sat in front of the laptop, having the tablet on the right hand side, and got down to organising her notes.

 _I won't stay in Hueco Mundo for longer than necessary. And the other prisoners - though perhaps in a different manner – will gain their freedom together with me._

She took a deep breath.

 _Now it's clear for me... what I should do._

"Yylfordt? What are you doing here?" the scientist asked sternly "Who gave you permission to come in here? I told you to wait at the air-lock."

"I allowed myself to get in here" the guest smiled devilishly. "I thought I'd wait in a nicer place, because your fraccion tipped me off that you're busy... with your new prey."

The arrancar, who managed to get into the closely guarded laboratory and bypass the army of hollows created by Szayelaporro, and faced no consequences of this act, was roughly the same height as the host and of similar build. He was also slightly tanned, probably spending most of his time outside the base. His long, blonde hair was neatly slicked back. A fragment of white, horned helmet was stuck at the top of his head like a piece of broken china. His uniform was simple and consisted of white hakama and a jacket, unbuttoned exactly where a yawning hollow hole was located – at the centre of the chest, imitating the lack of heart.

Yylfordt Granz, when he was a human, was born as Szayelaporro's older brother. Despite their transformations, the siblings maintained their special bond and preserved their memories.

"Still opening up new horizons?" asked the blond with a cheerful grin plastered on his face "With all these rumours about you, I thought that nothing's gonna baffle me, and here's a surprise. A human? Again? Well, well..."

"Really?" the Espada's fake astonishment made his brother realise he just said something ludicrous "Interesting. And who would gossip about me? I assure you, Yylfordt, that when you join Las Espadas, you're not asked about your preferences or previous and future partners. The leadership is more concerned about our power and usefulness."

Yylfordt shrugged his shoulders.

"You know how it is. You isolate yourself from the entire group, so everyone's making up their own shit on what you actually do. For example, your research" he glanced pointedly at his brother. "Now I know."

"Come on. I got an opportunity and I took it. If the test subject tries very hard to get into my bed, I won't pretend to be a hermit."

"Riiight. You surely won't kick out a whore, who spreads legs wide open for everyone. I won't mention a specific example. I'm sure you remember well who I'm talking about."

"She wasn't my type. But I don't think you've bothered to come here to lecture me on the appropriate conduct."

"It'll be too late for any pep talks when I lose my status!" the blond protested "Grimmjow's been recently treating me like a dog."

"And it's because of me?"

"Nnoitra says so."

"Nnoitra is mythomaniac. He can say what he wants. I'm not going to waste time trying to convince someone ignoring the obvious truth."

"I thought you are friends."

Szayelaporro looked at his brother as if he said an unprecedented heresy, for example, that the ice is hot and the sun - cold.

"Who fed you with such nonsense? The common interest doesn't necessarily mean friendship, and even I would say that, as a matter of fact, these two contradict. What is more, Nnoitra himself is a quite specific person, who perceives the role of a friend differently than we do."

Yylfordt laughed dryly.

"I bet you're right. He sees Tesla Lindocruz as the closer one to such role."

His interlocutor smiled sarcastically.

"You see. If you really want, you can draw correct conclusions."

"So what's between you and this human?" blond jumped to another topic "Are you teaching her discipline or what?"

Szayelaporro's expression could be interpreted ambiguously. On the one hand, it seemed that he is thinking, but he muttered a vague 'hm', as if nodding. His eyes, overshadowed by the glasses, were cold and almost acrid, reflecting the fact that the idea mentioned out loud, was completely absurd, similarly as friendship with Nnoitra Gilga.

"I hope that you'll be as discreet as you declare, brother" he commented after a short deliberation, evading the answer. "I wouldn't like Lord Aizen learning about Sara Morgenstern – that's how the human is called."

Yylfordt blinked, as if lost in thought and coming back to reality after a while of absence.

"Why? You've just said that the leadership doesn't care..."

"Because Lord Aizen expects tangible results of my research" he interrupted impatiently. "He hasn't interfered with my work so far and accepts, to some degree, my minor insubordination or delays. I'd like to keep it that way. If he might suspect – based on those rumours - that rather than doing my job, I'm entertaining myself with a human, this situation will surely change."

"Don't tell me you've got anything to hide."

"I run a number of open projects with tight deadlines, when it comes to reporting progress to Lord Aizen. How could I be hiding anything?" he asked innocently "Me? The Head of R&D? I wouldn't do anything that stupid. I assume that it's rather Lord Aizen, who doesn't need any follow-up on this topic."

"Exactly. It seems to me that the last thing Lord Aizen wants to take care of, is a human puttering about Las Noches..."

His brother nodded slowly, encouraging him to continue.

"...mostly because something weird is going on and it's more interesting than kidnapping humans. I'm just not sure whether that's positive or not. Something's spoilt the atmosphere of Las Noches."

"And more specifically?" asked the scientist "I can't advise anything, working solely on the basis of your feelings."

Yylfordt shook his head.

"I don't have anything more right now. Just that vibe in the air."

"You know, I can't help you with that."

"I'm not asking for your help. Be careful, brother. Any moment something can come out of hiding... Don't exclude this newly tamed human, either" the blond smiled mischievously. "Really, I've never thought that you'd hit on vermin. Aren't you worried about catching something nasty from your pet humans?"

"Make one more similar suggestion, and I guarantee that you'll catch an angry Escarabrejo. And then, you'll be seriously worried."

They exchanged brief farewell remarks, after which Szayelaporro was left alone. Despite the fact that there was quite a lot of traffic – the Octava Fraccion, occasional arrancar guests or the test subjects – in the laboratory, this huge centre always gave him the impression of residing there all by himself.

Was he plagued by loneliness? At first, he was going to deny, but the more he thought about it, the more complicated and ambiguous became this issue.

In the end, there had to be some logic behind creating an army of modified arrancar, who watched his back, but also provided information and acted as messengers. In parallel, for some reason, he was bringing humans to Hueco Mundo, and sometimes even allowed them to be more than just test subjects.

He didn't want to carry on with this topic, as it inevitably would make Yylfordt to inquire what exactly he saw in Sara Morgenstern to discard his racist views on her kind. It had nothing to do with hypocrisy - humans were imperfect in principle, they lived too shortly and their aging process was one great degradation of mind and body. His latest deeds weren't any indication of him changing the opinion in this respect. Even Sara Morgenstern in a few years' time wouldn't be the same person who fascinated him now. If he was hundred percent sure that her abilities wouldn't get corrupted, he would gladly changed her into an arrancar and made her stay in the laboratory. With any thoughts about returning to the human world out of her head, she would most probably lose her motivation to accomplish her goals, to develop her skills and to evolve. That was the risk he was not going to take right now.

For a moment, he was haunted by a thought about motivation in the context of an earlier conversation with Sara... but he abandoned it immediately.

It was not good food for thought.

That was why he didn't provide sufficient explanations when Yylfordt asked him this question. He lied, when inquired about the reason for isolation, too.

Apart from anything else, it was not safe to share classified information with his brother. Yylfordt was capable of being discreet, but in a way how _he_ understood secrecy and it didn't mean to hold his tongue. Quince tried his best to limit access to the information, but instead, somehow he was magically creating rumours. This gossip was swiftly being passed around Hueco Mundo similarly as in the game of broken telephone.

Szayelaporro knew his brother well enough not to entrust him critical data, because it meant that soon everyone would have them at their disposal.

He also avoided discussions on more personal topics. Although he doubted that Yylfordt was retelling the other arrancar their private conversations, he had to be careful, because Granz Senior could eventually make an unfortunate slip. And any such data leak could have tarnished the scientist's reputation.

He was not afraid to mention Sara Morgenstern, because Aizen was aware of her presence in Las Noches, and the rest of the army would not be interested in her at all. After all, weren't humans not already being imprisoned in Hueco Mundo? Who cared if this time it was a woman from the European Economic Area, and not a man from Korea, like before? Szayelaporro also believed that once a piece of news becomes public, it immediately stops being perceived as a sensation. Others would possibly see Sara Morgenstern in the same manner as Yylfordt – that is, as a toy or an object of his desires, which helps him to alleviate loneliness.

Nnoitra's case was a bit different.

It was sort of natural that Octava, as one of the lower-ranking Las Espadas, should strive to have at least neutral relationships with the stronger numbers. One of the consequences of this naive idea was an alliance with the fifth Espada, which was broken soon after it was formed. Szayelaporro thought that their initial cooperation would be a short prelude to a long-term arrangement, but their expectations for the joint fight turned them against each other. Nnoitra was quick-tempered and incredibly close-minded, and his only ambition were opportunities to fight, no matter with whom, no matter the reason. Or if there was any reason at all. As a contrast, the Octava Espada was against using brute force unless it was absolutely necessary, and his preferred methods of combat were manipulation, disinformation and competitive edge of modern technologies.

Amazingly, the only being in Hueco Mundo, who seemed to understand the effectiveness of these methods was Sara Morgenstern – a human, a pacifist, who hated violence and war, as well as an excellent manipulator. Her approach was reasonable as it was her only reliable way of defense. Who would have expected that a woman with angelic looks was capable of treacherous scheming? Before anyone could figure that out, she would have crushed her enemies without the need for any traditional weapons. She was literally killing with her brain.

Szayelaporro was far from condemning her, he could only marvel at how well she was dealing with the office politics in her world. Humans were pathetic in continuous breaching of their own code of ethics, although it was established with the intention to never break its rules. They were even glorifying such methods, which was in stark contrast with their beliefs. Negotiations, coaching, mentoring, counseling - all of them were based on manipulation, although often lingering within the safe, undefined gray area.

Similar manipulation was Aizen's power over Hueco Mundo. Why did he take charge? Was it so bad previously, that it was necessary to change the king? Did he promise anything more than his predecessor?

Strictly speaking, yes. He treated them with a set of illusions.

He changed them into hybrids of shinigami and hollows, giving them what they desired the most - the power absolutely unprecedented and unattainable until now. A prerogative to use it freely was a nice bonus. In this way, they could reach humans, shinigami, Quincy... which was tempting. The rest of the lyrics of his hymn of power did not sound quite as appealing, because Aizen did not tolerate insubordination and severely punished those who dared to ignore or oppose his orders.

He had the perfect tools: two adjuncts, who were his eyes and ears, as well as almost divine intellect and genius. Aizen never raised his voice at anyone, he did not use more than a fraction of his power to make his presence in Hueco Mundo, but despite this, everyone, regardless of rank held him in considerable respect combined with fear.

If an item didn't fit into his plan... he was eliminating the odd puzzle without mercy.

Therefore, Szayelaporro decided not to provoke his new principal to sign a death sentence addressed either to the scientist himself or to Sara Morgenstern. He also had several trump cards to play with and, like Aizen, was a master manipulator. He sowed the seeds during his chat with Yylfordt and the only thing to do was waiting for the first sprouts.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter X

One of the damaged uniforms, which was uselessly hanging in the closet, became a shoulder bag, essential to accommodate the necessary things. Smaller devices, such as the modified iPhone could be put into pockets of the trousers, but it would be very hard to expand them to fit a laptop. Although Sara could do without it when moving around the laboratory, for this particular case, the computer was specifically needed.

She was definitely not a master in sewing and when she was finished with the bag, the final product occurred to have an irregular bulge on one side. In addition, tight, crude seams were visible in their full misery. However, there was no time for perfectionism in such a trivial matter. She had a more difficult task at hand. She suspected that it wouldn't be easy to find herself once again in the topography of the laboratory, modified by its principal on a regular basis. What Sara had at her disposal were just a few tricks up her sleeve.

Using the map application, she reviewed the draft plan of the facility. She had already tracked a route to the great hall, reminding her of the factory floor. Now, she decided to head in the exactly opposite direction, hoping that instead of the Octava Fraccion, she would find their boss.

In order to achieve that, she additionally launched the app measuring the _reiatsu_. At some point, it alarmed her with an incredibly high record, indicating that probably the Espada was nearby. She found herself at a crossroads of three routes, each of them identical and absolutely indistinguishable, lacking the vital clues. Without putting much thought into it, Sara sat on the floor, studying the randomly selected wall. Then, the energy fluctuations plummeted to negligible reading, and after a minute or so rocketed to the top of the scale.

"Looking for something?"

A door appeared on the perpendicular corridor, which just a second ago was made of solid wall. Szayelaporro, dressed in his inherent white uniform, emerged from the dark entrance. Sara quickly rose from the floor, so that she wouldn't be teased by the Espada looking down at her. Even when she straightened up, her eyes were at his arms level, but still, it was better than the perspective of a beetle waiting for the crushing boot.

She titled her head a bit, trying to see where the tunnel was leading to, but saw only an obscure and definitely uninviting corridor.

"Can we talk?" she asked shortly

He made a gesture in her direction to follow him straight into the mysterious black space. Because she was the supplicant, it was not appropriate to protest, although when she was ushered courteously into the tunnel, it immediately aroused her suspicion. It was careless of her to have the enemy behind, especially in the dark passage, as the arrancar did not bother with lighting them.

Although Sara's eyes quickly adjusted to complete darkness, she was very insecure in exploring the surroundings. She used her hands to navigate her way around and avoid bumping into any obstacles. She reached out, touching things to get an idea where she was.

"Head straight ahead" she almost jumped when this command was issued.

She didn't trust him one hundred percent, instead relying on her outstretched arms and stepping carefully over the invisible ground. She sighed with relief when they finally reached the destination. Behind the black barrier, which was enveloping corridor like a curtain, there was a spacious, bright room of a rectangular shape.

The floor was made of wood or its faithful imitation in dark, smoky hue. Two perpendicular walls and the ceiling (with LED lights), were painted white. One of these walls drew her attention because it was equipped with a glossy writing board. By looking diagonally from the board, she could see an LCD screen. It was probably linked with the monitoring system in the laboratory.

The other part of the room, accented by a wallpaper made of raw silk dyed in irregular, horizontal stripes of light brown and hazel, was a private zone. A small sofa, upholstered in the same fashion as the walls, was decorated with lots of pillows with different textures of the fabrics. There were, among others, animal fur, wool, various types of old-fashioned knit, and avant-garde neoprene. Sofa was placed directly opposite the screen for presentations, providing seating as well as the perfect cinematic perspective.

A few stairs lead to an entresole in the central part of the room. Sara and Szayelaporro went upstairs to pursue their discussion in a comfortable balcony, furnished with a coffee table and two armchairs. All the appliances were upholstered in leather in a natural shade of gray and – as basically everything else here – looked like they had just left the manufacturing site. Sara thought for a moment about the consequences of intense use of these furniture, including possibility of scratches, but as soon as she touched them, her worries vanished instantly. The whole set was solid as a rock, and the owner could get away with regular spilling wine and coffee, crushing strawberries or scraping fingernails down any of its elements.

Round, hairy rug muffled footsteps and added coziness to this part of the interior.

They sat opposite each other, as if they met at a coffee break, but the atmosphere was heavy and must have weighed more than the famous Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest. Sara wanted to start her speech, to impose some sort of order of a discussion she was anticipating to follow. Despite meticulous preparations, she was still considering the words to express her wishes. However, Szayelaporro was not in the mood to wait quietly and unceremoniously laid out his conditions.

"First of all, I need to say that if you are here because of the other test subjects, there is no room for any further discussions. I'll save you any questions, comments, requests, pleas and not so sophisticated blackmail. For your information, I intend to continue conducting tests on them. It's not only a matter of the command I received, but my own advancement as a scientist and the opportunity to acquire new knowledge. Therefore, I won't stop my research, although without any doubt, you've prepared an extensive argumentation" he smiled sourly. "You may return to your work. Don't overstretch the negotiations, which are doomed to failure."

"We established certain facts before" she said, undeterred by his introduction. "One of them was the mental state of those four people. We agreed that most likely they are seriously ill. Because we are not able to provide them with proper treatment or cure them, they are sentenced for inevitable mental breakdown. Then, they would either fall into apathy and become puppets, incapable of any social interaction, or, on the contrary, would be possessed by madness and become dangerous to you."

"Become dangerous? Since when?" he asked in almost insulting tone "Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"

"The four of them have supernatural abilities. Ahmad is a separate issue, but the other three became friends and it's possible they'll unite against you. I suspect what exactly keeps them in check and it is the same device you mentioned at the very beginning. I know, however, that any mechanism based on _reiatsu_ can be nullified. As soon as they find a weak spot in your defense system, you'll be exposed to their attack and vulnerable as a child."

He snorted.

"I managed to get them cornered, captured and transported to Las Noches, and you think I won't be able to defend against their special abilities _in my own laboratory_?"

"In my opinion..."

"I'm not interested in your opinion on this issue" he answered sharply. "The facts are not like you claim. Just like I told you before, these humans have gone through penultimate stage of my experiments. My plans involve their participation in warfare tests, then presumably I'll no longer need them. But, even if they manage to survive, they won't be cherishing the human world, as I don't allow anyone to share the sensitive information they obtained in my lab. Any responsible scientist would do exactly the same. On the other hand, I can't tell now whether I definitely won't need them in the near future, so the safest option is to keep them here. Therefore, once again, I need to emphasize you're wasting your time. Is it all you've got for me?"

"I didn't come here like a beggar" she said, reaching for the bag and taking the laptop out of it. She put the computer on the table in a manner of making a gift. "I brought information that may be of interest for you. I've prepared a short presentation about the travel through spacetime. There was a mention in your notes that somewhere in the past you've started to deal with this project, but you gave up on it due to lack of research material. I can help you with reactivating this program."

"So what?" he asked aggressively "You'll give me the laptop, and I'll read what you've produced. If your assessment is correct and there is something of value for me, that's great, I'll make use of it."

Sara was prepared for a tough conversation, although she had to admit she didn't expect the cards to be thrown on the table at the start. She was now grateful that she had experience in dealing with difficult clients and had learnt before that the best she could do was to stay calm and not freak out. Fortunately, as the Espada was not really a client, she didn't need to be nice and permitted herself to speak her mind.

"Please go ahead" she agreed hypocritically. "Slides comprise several bullet points I put together to organise my thoughts. There are no further details in the file. True knowledge is here" she pointed at her head. "It's highly likely that in a moment you're going to preach me how you'll make me confess everything I know. Still, I think it'll be much more convenient for you if I voluntarily share my findings."

"Voluntarily" he repeated in a bored voice. "But not for free, right?"

"Exactly" she nodded. "Are you still interested in my offer?"

He shook his head firmly, surprising her.

"I see no reason why I should negotiate with you. You live and you are kept alive thanks to me. You are using my lab and gain information through the devices I share with you. In other words, everything you've discovered during you stay in Las Noches in one way or another belongs to me and I don't owe you anything. You'll share your findings with me? Don't make me laugh. Truth serum is equally simple and I can use it to put my hands on your concepts without further ado, such as soliciting your consent."

"Now you are talking nonsense" she pointed out. "Truth Serum is a tool used to obtain specific answers to specific questions. If you want to know my favorite colour, dish or song, go ahead. But now" overly sweet tones took over her voice to underline this particular sentence "you have no idea what questions to ask and what answers to expect."

He did not reply right away.

"All right" he finally agreed. "I'll review your presentation, and tomorrow we'll discuss the topic in more detail."

"Tomorrow?" while the answer was positive, Sara was astonished. Postponing the presentation made no sense. "Why do you want to wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm not going to talk about science with a screeching harpy" he rose. He had his both hands tucked into pockets, which was alarming, knowing his passion for gestures. "We'll get back to business once you calm yourself down."

Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, he grabbed a syringe from his pocket. Firmly holding Sara in place, he made a quick injection in her arm. Instinctively, she reached with her free hand to stop the bleeding, but the drug started working immediately and she couldn't move. She slid limply to the ground, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Szayelaporro switched her laptop on, smiling to himself.

Her back ached.

It was the first glimpse of Sara's consciousness after waking up from not very pleasant sleep. The second was to determine what the colour of the rug was, or more precisely whether it was stone, taupe or dove gray. When her senses sharpened enough to decide on this extremely important issue, she moved to the next stage of diagnosis, that is, what made her sleep in such an awkward place.

Then she recalled the memory of how she tried to help the other prisoners, her proposal in exchange for granting her request, and... the continuation.

Her mind began to work feverishly, inquiring what could have been done with her when she was unconscious, but nothing pointed to the fact that it was anything unpleasant.

She couldn't complain on anything else than a stiff back and a trace of an injection.

 _Luckily, electronics absorbed him more than I did._

"Have you slept well?" sounded a familiar voice

She murmured an insult under her breath, trying to pick herself up while not looking like a child just learning to crawl. It was tough to maintain dignity when every movement was terribly painful. An outside observer must have found her unnaturally straight back hilarious.

The arrancar looked at her with amusement, and his attitude was the ultimate expression of complacent self-righteousness.

"Sure" she replied, sounding slightly nasal. "When's breakfast? The eggs ought to be free ranged ones, bread should be delivered by a local, family-owned bakery and I won't drink anything except freshly ground coffee."

He laughed out loud.

"Not so fast, darling" only because of her bad condition, she didn't throw any sharp object in his direction for calling her like that. "The luxury has to be earned. You've previously promised me something and I would be very disappointed if you didn't keep this promise. And believe me, you don't want to see me disappointed."

"Okay, okay, you don't need to explain me everything like to a layman" she interrupted him impatiently. "I remember our discussion yesterday..."

 _Was it yesterday?_

"...and I'd like to finally get my point across. I don't need any extra preparation. I could do a decent presentation about travel through spacetime even woken up in the middle of the night. Now, how should I connect the laptop to a projector? I can't see any cables. Do you use a wireless USB-based connection?"

"I told you there is no rush" he assured her for the second time, but his tone was more aggressive than giving comfort. "Firstly, we'll take a walk."

He waited mercifully until Sara collected her belongings and after she was ready, he opened a passage in the wall, a moment ago being an impenetrable surface.

"Where are we going?"

"To a nice place" he said, as though it was something obvious. "I guess you'd like to take a bath and change clothes, correct?"

"Yes" she admitted reluctantly. "Have you got a mini-spa camouflaged somewhere here?"

"It depends what you mean by the 'mini'. I hope to live up to your sophisticated expectations."

She rolled her eyes, recognising that there is no point in continuing this conversation. She wouldn't obtain any new information, and the arrancar seemed to master a technique of ignoring her provocations. Since she didn't like his answers, it was easier not to say anything and just enter another dark tunnel. Listening to short instructions and following them gave her additional time to develop a strategy for the upcoming presentation. She had a couple of salesperson tricks in her sleeve, but that was yesterday. How she could anticipate delivering a speech while being sleepy and sore? Fortunately, every step forward was like a shot of energy. She didn't feel hunger or thirst, which implied that probably synthetics weakened these needs.

Sensing deception and detecting ulterior motives was starting to become Sara's second nature during her involuntary stay in the laboratory. Therefore, when she went into that 'spa' area, and the Espada courteously left her alone, she regretfully missed a modern hot tub and other widgets. Instead, she took a quick shower and changed into a clean uniform. Having no other alternative, she used the make-up tools available here, being more bold than usual. She started with the soft peach eyeshadow, but then went for dark blue glitter kit and black eye pencil, and a 'false eyelashes' mascara to achieve spectacular smoky eyes effect. Although she avoided using blush on a daily basis, this time she liked the healthy glow effect. The lipstick was the final touch before arranging her hair in soft waves.

When she was fully prepared, she opened the door to where Szayelaporro was waiting for her. This place looked like a dining room in an old-fashioned style, totally different from the cool minimalism, being a signature design in the laboratory. The interior was basking in bright, rather monochromatic colour scheme with predominance of white, ecru and beige, accented by pale pink, adding to this small space extravagant breadth and palatial elegance.

The floor was made of the milled wood, inspired by Provencal style was the most random design element. As a contrast, soft, beige curtains looked dignified, similarly as a noble table on bent legs, clearly inspired by the rococo classics. Its monumental character was broken by the material used during production, because the classic furnishings were certainly not made of white lacquered high gloss plastic. Its smooth surface reflected a glass vase with roses.

Above the table hung two crystal chandeliers, consisting of hundreds of components - each of them smaller than a fingernail - draped in compositions resembling pearl necklaces. They were polished so accurately that even cut off from the power source, they could gleam on their own.

Curtains, which certainly weren't covering any windows, smoothly blended with the wallpaper in different shades of ecru, with embossed plant ornament. Decorative background required no images or other bibelots. The only such detail adorned the wall in front of her – it was a mirror without frames, cut out in shape resembling lace. The surface of the mirror was cloudy and completely non-reflective.

All these features seemed completely out of place, moreover, they didn't match the modestly dressed Espada and a modern laptop laid on the dining table. Sara felt a bit uncomfortable and just stood speechless in the doorway for a while.

"Welcome" he said, smiling smugly.

She nodded, walking over to the table. Still not believing in the images unfolding before her eyes, Sara sat down on one of the chairs outfitted in rich fabric printed with beige and pink motifs. She noticed that the cushioning was decorated with mythological scenes. Themes related to, among others, Apollo and Diana, the Abduction of Ganymede, Apollo and Marsyas, Diana Leaving Her Bath, the Birth of Venus...

 _After all, it's classical art, isn't it?_

She switched on the laptop and opened the file with the presentation. She experimented for a while with the machine setting to have them both see the content, but soon realized that the arrancar probably learned the slides by heart by now. The most important at this point was her comfort in getting her idea across.

"Shall we start?"

She was proud of how confident was her voice. Szayelaporro nodded, a mischievous smile disappeared from his face, replaced by a razor-sharp gaze, which wouldn't miss even the most trivial mistake.

"The topic of instant journeys through time and space was nothing but a fleeting dream until one inventor undertook construction of an intact time machine, which managed to transmit a neutron into the past. The machine used the laser to bend the light and to slow down its course. The theory says that if such an occurrence was proved true in the case of subatomic particles, one day would also succeed in case of more complex organisms."

"More complex, that is...?" he asked expectantly

"Multicellular ones. I meant humans, but for the sake of clarity, we can say this includes all humanoids."

"I understand. Please proceed."

"We both know that Las Espadas have the ability _Descorrer_ that allows them to open the gates to other worlds, so I won't elaborate on it more. I'll add, however, what made me interested in this idea. It's the way of transitioning between dimensions and the procedure to open the gate" she paused eloquently.

Sara began her speech sitting stiffly, his hands resting on the table, but quickly she transitioned into the role of a professional presenter, highlighting the most important parts verbally, and through strong gestures.

"While studying available materials, I came to several conclusions. The first one of these concerns crossing the borders between worlds. To some extent, it starts with temporarily breaking the barrier separating them."

"This is not a conclusion" interrupted Szayelaporro. "But an observation."

"Okay" she agreed reluctantly. "Whatever. Then, another issue is somewhat related to the previous one: breaking the barrier results in creating – for a very short period of time – of a black hole that sucks or flips to the other side everything in the vicinity. The barrier is capable of instantaneous self-regeneration and managing to breach it, following by the maintenance of the gate, requires huge amounts of energy. It's also an easily detectable process, making it difficult to send intelligence units or leading a surprise attack, and secondly" she smiled spontaneously "it means that your power is under the constant control of your boss. Moreover, I know he is rather averse to accept your escapades outside of Hueco Mundo."

Her interlocutor frowned.

"I'll take that as a side note" he commented. "Don't try to insinuate that I'm interested in creating illegal transport system between the worlds."

"I wouldn't dare" she said ironically. "You can't deny, however, that the possibility of an enemy detecting your moves and the energy expenditures are serious drawbacks of the current system. Using a suitable mechanism can help to eliminate them."

"It's just a theory" he said indifferently, but Sara caught a flash of interest in his eyes. Therefore, most likely he was just teasing her. "How do you think this would work in practice? By the way, these 'black holes' are called 'garganta'. Please include this definition in the presentation, as it's the most proper term to describe what you have in mind."

Sara nodded. This name was familiar, it could be included somewhere in the footnotes. She did not want to argue about something so unimportant, moving to another topic instead.

"I'll tell you about the practical implications, but first I'd like to give you an overview of similar phenomena, which have been analysed by humans. According the Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravity causes a curvature of spacetime to such an extent that it affects both mass and light or energy. I would like to bring up the example of self-collapse of stars at least three times larger than the sun. The star is, in plain words, being compressed and, as a result, gradually turns off, changing into a black hole. Due to concentration of huge mass in a sufficiently small area, the gravitational field on the surface becomes so strong that not even light can escape from it and remains there forever."

Sara observed that her interlocutor's interest increased, although he was expecting to cease purely theoretical considerations.

"This can be explained by the concept of such a curvature of spacetime in the vicinity of the surface of the star" she continued "that the route of the light takes the form of a loop, and therefore returns to its previous position, because it can't escape anywhere else. We can conclude that a black hole does not allow light to pass through and, as there is nothing traveling faster than light, it gives the idea how immense is the gravity force around that particular area. The collapse process shrinks the star to an infinitely small point known as 'singularity' with zero volume and infinite density. In the human world, this theory is only hypothetical, because no one has found convincing evidence of their real existence so far. The discovery of almost certain black holes was noted" at that point, she glanced at the slide listing the names "by labeling the specific locations as Cygnus X-1, A0620-00 Monoceros, V-404 Cygni, Nova Sco 1994."

"How this could be done?" asked the Espada "Black holes are by definition completely invisible. You've just said that they are blind spots with no volume."

"You can't see the air, either, and yet, we all are able to feel its impact on us, for example when its quality gets down" she answered with a slight smile. "There are loads of indirect evidence of their existence, that is, obviously, not a photo of a black hole, but the image of how its presence affects its surroundings. Detailed studies have provided testimony beyond a shadow of doubt. I might add that black holes aka gargantas can be 'seen' by spiritually aware beings, and the level of visibility of the image is directly proportional to their power."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Even if it's possible to see a black hole, it's not equal to traveling between worlds."

"Of course not" she admitted. "This is just the start, or actually the foundation. Since this phenomenon is found in the natural world, is repetitive and there is documented mechanics of the process, we can try to play around with it in artificial conditions. The prerequisites are an appropriate algorithm and vast amount of energy, provided via carrier, which wouldn't fall apart under its influence."

"The conditions to achieve this are less demanding than I expected" he commented nonchalantly. "Do I understand correctly that we are near the finale of your speech, or would like to add anything else?"

"That's all I had to say in this regard. What do you think about it?"

"Your reasoning includes a lot of mind shortcuts that can cause you many problems when you start developing of the project. For example, what does it mean that light can't escape? Is there a way, in which light can jump and run away?" he joked, but she didn't even smile hearing this banter "I assume that you meant ultimately strong gravity force, which bends the very fabric of spacetime, but this should be stated clearly. Generally, however, I think your thesis is fine, and the conclusions are logical. I would explore this topic once again and get back to you with more questions.

"I'm pleased that your feedback is positive" she leaned on the chair as much as her stiff back allowed and folded her arms. "Now I'd like to discuss the second item on our agenda. What is going to happen with the other prisoners?"

He took his time to answer this question. His face was difficult to read and Sara was not sure whether her interlocutor was contemplating, or ostentatiously ignoring her by pretending he had not heard the question. She decided, however, to withstand the silence and resisted the temptation of saying a single word.

Finally, Szayelaporro let out a barely audible sigh.

"Since you want to help these people so much, why wouldn't you grab a sword or a cleaver and treat them with all the best of your euthanasia?"

Despite the obvious irony in this question, he sounded deadly serious.

"I couldn't kill another human being" she refused strongly. "Apart from my ethical dilemmas, I simply don't know how to do it. I'm too weak to chop anyone with a cleaver. Or to stick a dagger in the right place..."

"...because you prefer to use other people's hands, and you thought that I would be the best candidate for this kind of a deal?" he finished her line

"Isn't it true? I guess that for you killing people is as natural as breathing."

He laughed.

"I'm not sure is that a sign of your genius or my dementia, but you've convinced me."

He rose from his seat.

"I'll take care of these prisoners, but under one condition. I won't lift a finger to help them, unless you visit them together with me."

"Why do you need me there?" she asked cautiously "I don't have any power."

"Aren't you interested in saving your friends?" he answered with another question "Don't you want to ensure yourself if they received proper care? If I guessed correctly, get ready to meet your people, rebel queen."

To confirm these words, he headed toward the exit.

"Right now?" she asked with hesitation

"You said you want to curtail their suffering. If you define 'suffering' as the time spent in my lab, every second must be an indescribable torture. Therefore, the sooner we'll rush to rescue them, the better, correct?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter XI

With astonishment, Sara observed that they were returning to her private quarters. Szayelaporro was walking quickly, but as soon as they arrived there, he clearly slowed down, and his movements reminded her of spectacular tricks of a magician. The woman had now the opportunity to see the exact function of the split tiles in her workspace. The Espada somehow made the floor wave in two different directions, and the points of contact outlined a clearly visible, perfect oval.

A smooth, cylindrical shape was rising from the ground. Sara guessed it was some kind of device, but as long as it was merely a uniform surface, it was impossible to assess its purpose. When the discreet humming sound died, and the dark gray cylinder filled in the space from the floor to the ceiling, Szayelaporro stepped forward and touched the controls to open a passage.

And it was opened, but it led inside of this mysterious ton of metal.

At the same time, when the arrancar guided her, she was enlightened with a brilliant thought.

 _It has to be an elevator! This type of a rift is probably subject to more advanced restrictions. That's why it can't be seen from the outside and to activate it, the access control needs to be validated._

After they both went inside, sliding door closed behind them and blended into the metal structure.

Elevator rode quickly, but silently, and braking was so mild that Sara did not feel it. Oval door moved to the left side, embracing the edge of the vehicle. Szayelaporro went outside and advised her to follow him. Intuitively she felt it was sensible to keep up with the Espada and treat him as the guide, especially that the hallway was rather dark. The only source of light was the illumination generated behind the doors they were passing.

 _Since this part of the lab is underground and can be reached only by taking a lift, which, in turn, is secured by almost perfect camouflage..._ she mused, looking around and trying to accustom her eyes to the dim light _It must be the strategic wing of the centre. And as such, it's probably better protected than I can imagine. Hidden trapdoors or lasers shooting from the walls are primitive, but effective tricks, and difficult to bypass. I have to follow his footsteps..._

Lost in thought, Sara did not notice when Szayelaporro suddenly turned right and, as a result, she was very near to enter a crater in anthracite wall.

She stopped abruptly and immediately took a step back, although there was no possibility of falling into the void, because the fissure in the rock was not wide enough to accommodate a human. It was about three meters high and was shaped like a goblet or a tree. The chamber, in contrast to the hallway, was illuminated.

Sara, however, strongly regretted that yawning fissure in front of her was not shrouded by darkness.

She was looking at a huge pile of corpses, both human and arrancar. Bodies were lying on top of one another, giving the impression of a completely random mass and resembling a junkyard. Some corpses were clearly lying there for some time and already bore traces of decomposition in various stages, while the other had twisted bones or joints.

Her gaze fell on the young, dark-haired man with Asian features, his face frozen in an expression of absolute desperation to escape merciless fate. His whole body was unnaturally swollen, and the skin was dry and taut, as if something was about to rip it from the inside. Before his death, the boy held out his hand, probably to reach for something that would give him hope. Sara stared at the pale, stiff fingers and noticed they moved, and his hand was slowly approaching her. She could clearly see unhealthy, white furrows on his broken nails.

She cried out in fear and a wave of nausea struck her so suddenly that fighting it required supernatural effort. Because during the recent days she hadn't eaten nothing but synthetics, she felt only sour taste of bile moving up her throat. Her helpless response to the reflux was covering mouth with hands. Within a mere moment, the woman became so weak that it would take a single stroke to knock her over.

The Espada was looking at her with great disgust.

"Stop sniveling" he said coldly. "And if you're going to lie on the floor, know that you'll have to stand up by yourself."

His words, though sharp, allowed her a quick reality check. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried her best to think about something different than this abominable view. Szayelaporro didn't wait until she calmed down, but kept walking, therefore Sara had to catch him at once, in order not to get lost in a place full of traps.

The Espada's white outfit was the most vivid point in the area, like a lighthouse. Walking behind him, Sara expected that in a moment - literally or figuratively - another bomb would explode. She had to be vigilant in order to prepare herself and react adequately without falling into panic, as a moment ago. Only self-discipline and peace of mind could help her with the lurking traps. She was convinced that Szayelaporro was testing her again, and if he sensed her cowardice for the second time, probably he would lose all of his patience.

Corridor swerved sharply, but also went narrower, and to go through a constriction, Sara leaned against the wall, and her fingers slipped on something thick and wet. She immediately withdrew her hand, wishing she took on the gloves before leaving. Because she could not see what she touched, wiping the fingers on her pants was a bit careless.

 _Crap!_ she scolded herself silently. _And this is how I promised myself to be careful..._

She gave a piercing look around, trying to figure out what she could touch. Her first hypothesis was blood seeping through the walls of the chamber with corpses, while the other options seemed so repulsive that she shook her head to chase them away. Her thoughts still hovered around the area they just passed. After she had an overview of how walls are arranged, she concluded that the 'storage' must have been really huge. The vision of a dead Asian man, who seemed to move his hand, was brought again before her eyes.

Sudden revelation made her understand.

 _It was Jason! The tattoo on his arm... There is no other way, it had to be him!_

Sara felt a twinge of shame for her sudden racing heartbeat. It seemed to her that amongst the total silence, the thud is perfectly audible, as if she proclaimed to the whole world that she is upset and frightened to death. While staying in Las Noches, she wanted to avoid making such impression at all costs.

Meanwhile, Szayelaporro stopped in front of a lavishly embellished portal, being strangely out of place, similarly as the antique double doors. Sara regarded the fresco of angels at the top of the narrow gate rather worrisome than reassuring. In the dim light, Rubenesque cherubs seemed to be smiling maliciously in her direction.

"Ladies first."

The Espada courteously led the way forward. Sara blinked a few times, back trying to get used to the light, which after leaving the gloomy corridor, seemed to her to be too strong. A tiny vestibule was well lit also by reflective, shiny gray panels on the floor and walls.

She found herself in front of another door. It was painted in the same shade of gray as the rest of the room, but stood out by its heavy-duty construction and a small window just below the upper frame.

Szayelaporro touched the round door handle and even though he didn't turn it, the door opened as effortlessly as if made of cardboard. Sara noticed that it was indeed thick, and she was correct in her initial observations. She concluded at once there was something important... or something terrible nearby. She cast a glance at the arrancar walking next to her, but neither his neutral face, nor eyes eclipsed by his glasses-like mask gave her any hints about their next objective.

Small, elongated headlights in the following room produced scant light and allowed more detailed inspection of the surroundings.

Light gray walls with a dirty, peeling wallpaper, whose texture was resembling human skin and floor made up of matte black tiles paradoxically brought back her self-control. She had become accustomed to such image of the laboratory, which reminded her of familiar areas.

The hall they just entered was oddly laid out: it was a narrow rectangle, but the ceiling was firmly bulged up, creating a dome.

There was no doubt that the naked corpse lying on the autopsy table was Ahmad. He looked like he was sleeping, but his features were fixed in a fierce, hostile grimace. Sara saw him in a similar fashion when he vowed to take revenge on his enemies. Even the word 'jihad' appeared on his chest. All the constituent letters were either burned or scratched upon his skin with a sharp instrument.

The body was devoid of genitalia, and their place was occupied by a terrifying black void. Ulcerating wound looked like a twisted parody of a hollow hole. Considering who was responsible for Ahmad's condition... Sara had no doubt that he had such associations in mind.

The Syrian had his hands and legs cut off. His enhanced limbs were lain next to the stumps, but swapped, which complimented this horrifying experience.

And the most important thing was that the corpse - as Sara initially assessed - was still alive. He was dying, but still breathing, which was the evidence of his life slowly being burnt out.

"You beast!" she shouted accusingly at the Espada "Was it not enough for you to experiment on these people? Not only you tortured them, killed them, but you are desecrating their bodies! I'm not going to tolera-"

"Stop yelling" he interrupted her "and think carefully. First of all, you probably noticed he's not dead. Besides, you've talked to this piece of trash, so you know he's strongly prejudiced. He evaluates other people solely on the basis of a single criterion that is his religion. He calls the dissenters 'infidels' and is killing them in the name of his imaginary holy war. Also, according to his ideology, he is allowed to rape women who won't adopt Islam and marry him. His wife - again, with the permission of his god - is treated not much better, and violence is on daily agenda in their domestic relations. When I located him, he took a six-year old girl as his slave. Shall I go on? And who do you call a beast now, señorita Morgenstern?"

His arguments made sense and were consistent with her previous observations about Ahmad. Overwhelmed by religious zeal, gifted with special abilities, he was a threat to all living things, who weren't Muslims. After all, if it wasn't for the laboratory equipment keeping him restrained, Sara probably would not survive the first meeting with him.

Ahmad's aversion to all of the other prisoners was the major obstacle in cooperation with him. He didn't want to hear Sara's plan, because it was invented by a woman from 'rotten Europe.' Mira experienced similar attitude. Cristian, as a man, could be in better position to negotiate, but his small, conservative country had publicly announced non-acceptance of any refugees from Syria, because they spread deadly diseases. And in Ahmad's view, Jason was a 'jap', that is, someone inferior.

At the same time, Ahmad didn't take any initiative to escape from the laboratory himself or to help others.

Then, why she felt compelled to protect him?

Sara was under Szayelaporro's watch and despite the hollow's complete lack of empathy, he could correctly determine the train of her thought. She didn't lie, declaring solidarity with the other prisoners, but it was starting to weaken, and probably would have vanished completely, if he decided to prolong the pre-experimental phase. In fact, the five had not that much in common with one another, except for their current circumstances. Originating from different cultural backgrounds, their personal situations were not alike. Being unable to communicate in one language, they had no chance of effective cooperation. Even the charisma of Sara as their self-styled leader wouldn't make any difference if she lost her motivation. The rest would easily sense her resentment, which would significantly affect the group's morale.

The Espada leaned towards her, whispering straight into her ear.

"He didn't fit into the group from very beginning, right? He was destroying your every effort to gain freedom." He lowered his voice. "He didn't respect anything or anyone, and giving him the opportunity, he would have killed all of you... of course, except you. You are a young and pretty woman, and you may certainly guess what would he prepare for you" he made a short pause. "But don't worry. He will no longer be a threat to anyone. I entrust you with the means of taking revenge on behalf of all his previous victims."

Sara shivered when she felt his gloved fingers touching the palm of her hand, followed by numbing cold, caused by a small glass container. It was like dozens of pins and needles poking her skin, as if the flask was just taken out of the freezer. Despite the instinct, which told her to throw it away, she held it tightly, then raised her hand to see what it was.

A small bottle was made of dark glass, concealing the contents. It was difficult to tell anything about the mysterious liquid inside. Szayelaporro turned the flask over in Sara's hand to demonstrate her a label printed with instructions.

"This is my gift" he said softly, his lips brushing her earlobe "prepared especially for you."

He gracefully moved away, settling himself in the place where the shadow fell. With growing excitement, he was watching as Sara was reading the description on the flask. The woman's face was tense and suggested that she was one hundred percent focused on the task at hand, hence she was not looking back at him. Both, however, knew that Szayelaporro wouldn't offer her nothing more than the sparse information in Spanish could tell her. Asking the Espada any questions was a waste of time.

Sara removed the seal and twisted off the cap, and then walked to Ahmad. She looked at him apologetically, expressing compassion towards him as a person, but didn't hesitate any further to open his mouth by force and pour the contents of the bottle straight into his throat. Then, she quickly stepped back, instinctively placing herself in Szayelaporro's close proximity. Staring intently at the poisoned man, Sara capped the bottle and gave it back to the Espada. He seemed astonished by this, but did not protest.

Mysterious mixture confirmed, albeit in a very specific way, that Ahmad was still alive. His eyes opened wide, resembling table tennis balls, and it seemed that in a moment they would come out of the sockets. Then all the blood was drained from his face, forming a mask devoid of any human features. Moreover, whatever kept his pain at bay, stopped working, and the Syrian's screams filled the cramped room. Ahmad's voice could have shaken the ground, powerful like a thunder, which echoed and resonated, clearly indicating that he experienced severe anguish.

Szayelaporro closely examined Sara's reactions. She was shaking, probably in fear, but kept her back perfectly straight, didn't avert or covered her eyes. In her look he saw mainly curiosity, not horror or disgust, as if a dying man was no longer perceived by her as a human being. Ahmad became just one of the test subjects, who was honoured to demonstrate what his extraordinary mixture was capable of.

Meanwhile, the Syrian stopped howling, took a shallow breath and began to wheeze, as if someone gagged him.

"Let them be cursed!" he screamed, surprisingly, in English.

Sara guessed that he was speaking through translator-synthesizer, which made his words understandable, even though each of them was marked with a dreadful shriek.

"Let us cast terror into the hearts of infidels! Strike off their heads until you have crushed them completely! Strike off their heads and strike off all of their fingertips!"

The Espada noticed that his companion took another step back, almost sticking her back to the wall. She was afraid, but it wasn't connected with Ahmad, but rather with her own safety. The words spoken on his deathbed had to make her think that saving the Syrian could have brought great misfortune upon her.

"The infidels have called their god to fight against me! They sent an angel of doom with bloody wings and dressed in robes woven from the pain of its victims. The angel's tentacles reached into the furthest recesses of my soul, searching for sources of sin and eradicating them one by one. Sin has taken root in my innards, my strength, my masculinity... All of them... had to be cut off from the tree of life..."

His babbling was gradually losing momentum, and the next words were indistinguishable. In addition, at some point, the poison had to destroy the translator and speech synthesizer. Ahmad coughed and vomited blood.

Szayelaporro wasted no time, but immediately headed for another door and looked at Sara expectantly. Because she still wasn't moving as if turned into a pillar of salt, he advised her:

"Don't worry, he's not dead yet. He'll be in agony for at least a few hours until my concoction burns him from the inside. I can assure you, it's very painful, but rather boring to watch, also, we don't have all day to hang around here. Vamos, mi reina."

Due to lack of her reaction, he walked to her and grabbed her wrist. Although the Espada was left-handed, a seemingly weak grip was painful like metal vise. Attempts of struggling or breaking free were futile.

"Let me go" she ordered. "I can walk on my own."

Though his face was showing theatrical indignation, he complied with her instructions.

"As you wish, my dear" he said with amusement. "Just don't complain in case you fall and break your nose, for example. Or your occipital bone. Or..." he stopped suddenly "Oh, here we are."

The warning was not so unjustified, because the next room was basking in ice. Immaculate, perfectly clear, unbroken by any scratch was the surface covering the walls and the floor. It looked very beautiful, but dangerous. Each step might have been a prelude to a painful fall.

Since the objective of wandering through the underground laboratory now had seemed clear, it was not much of a surprise to see Cristian trapped in an ice field. Sara had a strange sense of déjà vu from their first meeting. The man was sitting inside a transparent crystal, exactly in the same position as she had seen him in a prison cell before. He was also pretending to be asleep, just as he had been then, but this time none of their three - including himself, if he could watch this scene - could not be fooled by this deceit.

She moved closer, carefully balancing on slippery surface, in order not to trip over. She crouched down in front of Cristian, shrouded in ice like a chrysalis growing up in a cocoon. Sara bitterly realised, however, that such comparison made no sense, because the Moldavian wouldn't be transformed into a butterfly.

Transparent shield misted over with her moist breath. Cristian must have sensed it, because he opened his eyes, and the coating protecting his face literally evaporated within mere seconds. There was no sign of melting ice or any drops of water. It didn't look as extremely low temperature caused him any harm, either.

"Sara..." he whispered, staring at her as if he saw her for the first time in his life. "It's really you. I didn't expect this from _you_!"

Something in this sentence struck her, and it wasn't simply the fact that he spoke through a translator-synthesizer, similarly as Ahmad. His tone expressed dismay, hinting that she did something wrong, appearing here and trying to comfort him in his misery.

"I came back for you, Cristian" in spite of her gloomy premonitions, she spoke so kindly and cordially that not only the addressee of this declaration, but also Szayelaporro could be fooled. "I'll get you free from the ice and bring you back to your family."

He coerced dry laughter.

"You don't have to lie to me, Sara. With or without your help, it's clear to me that I'll never see my wife and daughter again."

She looked at him in consternation.

"Your outfit" he explained. "You're dressed like an Espada. That bastard got you on his side, right?"

Sara didn't use to blush often, but this time her face was on fire, as she realised that her disguise was shattered into pieces. It was impossible not to notice the difference when confronted with a woman in a white uniform, with combed hair and professional make-up instead of a dirty wretch she used to impersonate before.

"Did you betray us?" he asked "Or went brainwashed? Changed into a hollow? Or maybe it was a masquerade right from the start?"

He laughed again, but the chuckle was stuck in his throat and turned into dry cough.

"Don't answer" he ordered hoarsely, before she could even say a word. "I guess I'd rather didn't know what had really happened."

She averted her eyes, feeling ashamed, but also angry at herself, that she didn't take care of such a trivial matter.

"How... How do you feel?" she finally managed to go on with the conversation, although in her evaluation she sounded too weak and clichéd to be genuine.

"I'm dying" he said laconically. "My kidneys and liver are shattered, and I'm missing most of the other internal organs. I can't walk because my leg muscles lost function. I can use my power to hibernate my body and ease the pain, but I can't end this misery once and for all."

She bowed her head, looking towards the ground and refraining from making any comments.

"Sara, if you really want to help me, listen to me" his tone was particularly bitter at this moment. "Somewhere here, there must be a power limiter that doesn't allow me to release absolute zero. If you are able to destroy it, I can eventually die."

It was another of those rare moments, when she didn't know what to say. In the midst of awkward silence, she was frantically thinking about how she could help Cristian. The modest range of her capabilities was a major obstacle, but she couldn't forget about the Espada accompanying her. It was virtually certain he had his own idea for the battle just beginning to unfold.

"Don't worry, it won't backfire at you" the Moldavian added. "I'm exhausted, and even after removing the restrictions I wouldn't be capable to take on you. It's not a dirty ploy of any sort. In this condition, I have no chance against the Espada, either. And I don't have anything against you. You've just sped up something, which was unavoidable, because none of our four believed that we'll return home. Actually, I feel sorry for you, as you'll stay here alone with this madman. In fact, I don't envy you. I'm going to die and you'll live, but I know exactly what will happen to you..."

Cautiously she picked herself up and took the upgraded iPhone from her pocket. However absurd it might have looked - the device was out of range of any cellular network - Sara seemed deadly serious and highly determined. She cast a quick glance back, while Szayelaporro took a step forward and nodded his head slowly, in such manner and in such a position that he clearly wanted Cristian to see this gesture. Moldavian smiled sourly, and Sara assumed that he made up his mind about her 'betrayal'. This hurt her, especially since she went to comfort him as a result of her own initiative, aimed to help him and the other three. She swallowed her bitter thoughts and decided to bring this matter to an end she found relatively happy.

Sara launched an application indicating the energy readings and after inputting the data and a brief exchange with the artificial intelligence, she took action. She tried not to pay attention to Cristian's scornful grimaces, when he was listening to her Spanish. The conclusions based on his expression, showing a mix of surprise and disgust, were bad enough.

The power limiter was hidden inside one of the walls, and at first glance, getting it out seemed impossible. Sara knew, however, that she should not give up at this point. If it was necessary, she would scratch a hole in the wall using her nails, even if she was to lose them as a result. Fortunately, she could count on someone else's helping hand.

"Cristian" she spoke softly "I found it. Can you please remove the ice surrounding it?"

Sara drew a circle on the ice with her index finger, indicating the area where the device was placed. The icebender did not say a word, but a few seconds later, a gray stone wall was unveiled. The end result gave her a hint, what she should do next.

When searching for a hidden storage, a much simpler solution came to her mind. A round stone embedded in the wall, looking like a river pebble, caught her interest. She grabbed the protruding part and tried to remove it. After the first failure, she tried another way, with twisting off the stone, as if it was the lid of a jar.

This time Sara was rewarded with a success. She was holding now a fake rock shard, which contained a small, white rectangular cube, similar to a die.

 _It must be the power limiter, weakening Cristian's icebending powers. I found it, which is great, but what now? How to destroy it?_

She felt being in the centre of attention of the both men. One hoped that she would help him to escape torture, allowing relatively quick and painless death. The second avidly followed her every move, drawing immediate conclusions about her creativity, perception and intelligence. She was sure that none of them would tell her what to do next: Cristian probably didn't know and Szayelaporro was too busy enjoying how weary she was, witnessing the suffering of another human being.

Of a man who in a moment would die by her hand.

She tried to pry the cover of the device with the nails, but couldn't find any removable parts. The case was cast from one patch of some kind of an electrical conductor, as she felt characteristic tingling in her fingertips. Because she ran out of other ideas, she reached for the iPhone and tried plugging the USB adapter into the power limiter.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Sara felt as if at least half an hour passed, until she noticed, with huge amazement, that the battery started charging. She held her breath for a moment, watching as the percentage of the battery life slowly gained higher and higher values.

The woman could only hope the power limiter shuts off by itself once the process reaches one hundred percent. The case turned out to be much simpler. At some point it just took effect, as if the device without adequate energy reserves was not able to block the stronger beings.

She didn't have to say anything to make Cristian understand he can use his full power. He proceeded somehow automatically, as if his prime technique was running in the background, poised to strike at any time. The temperature in the room dropped sharply, and the cold was particularly unbearable in the area around the icebender.

Sara felt like a deflated balloon. Although it was extremely dangerous for her, for some reason, she wanted to accompany Cristian when he unleashed his power. It was an irrational feeling, a mixture of sympathy, regret, and responsibility for his condition.

Before she approached the dying man, Szayelaporro grabbed her arm, hindering her from entering the epicenter of the ice storm.

"Cristian... Îmi cer scuze" she said quietly, using her free hand to wipe off the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Îmi pare foarte rău."

Sara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down and stop sobbing.

"It's not time to rest, yet" the Espada said in a tone not accepting any objections. "You need to hold on for our last stop, rebel queen."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter XII

In the distance, Sara could see a close-ended tunnel, heralding the inevitable finish of this walk among the tombstones. She quickened her pace and went ahead of the Espada, but just before the end of this blind alley, she stopped abruptly. Holding her breath, the shocked woman wanted to shrink, become invisible, escape somewhere far away... however unrealistic it was, having Szayelaporro behind her. He had to halt somewhere outside of her sight, but was still here. His sinister aura was perfectly palpable.

Walls and ceiling of this place were made of material resembling hewn stone or even plain concrete, used by humans. Several primitive lamps were sloppily hanging on loose wires. Sara earnestly hoped that the ghastly view they put in dim spotlight wouldn't be perpetuated on her retina or wouldn't return as a dream at night. Before her, there was a small, elevated platform, which hosted a very unusual stage.

There was a large wooden structure, shaped as a pentagram. Approaching, Sara noticed that someone was being crucified and took a step back, finding out who it was. She made a faint sound and screamed in shock and horror:

"Mira?!"

There was no possibility of a mistake. In a sense, it could be expected after the Espada announced this 'last stop.' The Bulgarian was tied with strong ropes to the wooden arms and had her wrists, arms, elbows, knees and ankles nailed. This intrusive religious analogy made Sara's head spin.

Tortured woman didn't bleed too profusely, and Sara quickly realised that metal bolts were embedded in her flesh in a way not allowing her to die too soon. It was not an execution, but this experiment was calculated to inflict maximum pain. The blonde woman wondered how long Mira could have been kept here, but ceased these considerations shortly. It didn't matter much, because every minute, even every second of hanging on the pentagram seemed unimaginable suffering. Bulgarian didn't utter a single sound, her head was tilted and no one could see her face, enveloped by shadow. Sara had no doubt, however, that the woman was alive.

"Mira..." she whispered while holding back tears

The sound of footsteps on the stone floor made Sara turn her attention to a different matter. For a moment, she lost vigilance, forgetting that Szayelaporro was behind her back and clearly relished the performance of two prisoners, who were here to entertain him. Shooting a challenging glance in his direction, she concluded that his presence or absence wouldn't make any difference. She would not pretend to have a heart of stone in front of the only person in the lab, who helped her. Although Mira seemed to see through Sara's scheming, she gave the younger woman selfless support by agreeing to go on with her cursed plan.

There was nothing Sara could have gained anyway. Szayelaporro's nastiness was annoying and it irritated her that someone like him treated her as a kind of a talking animal, but in the end those were merely words. Why to endlessly dwell on every insult? Although the arrancar was constantly trying to break her, he was not her role model. She was going to ignore his opinion on her as emotional and with signs of unstable psyche. And didn't pay attention that he saw her crying – with grief over another human being, but also because of helplessness. She couldn't help any other prisoner or to undertake anything against the culprit, as this was beyond her capabilities.

The Espada stopped midway between the wooden pentagram and the exit, and threw a package, which landed next to Sara. The sack crumbled under the force of the impact just before reaching the floor. A small first-aid kit and a set of basic surgical instruments fell out of folds of its gray fabric.

"I suppose you were hoping to chat" he said ironically. "So I'll give you some time to enjoy yourselves. I entrust you with some scientific support... I think you'll find their most appropriate use."

Despite Szayelaporro's leave, it created only the pretense of a private conversation. Both women were well aware of the hidden cameras, watching their every move and recording everything they say. While it was doubtful that the Espada knew Bulgarian, it wasn't much of a comfort. Sara's skills in this language were no better, which made the situation even more tragic. Instead of consolation, Mira's last moments would be filled with communication problems.

"Zdrasti, Mira" she spoke to the other woman, mixing Russian with Bulgarian. "Az sdelayu vsichko, chto v moikh silakh."

There was no reply, on the other hand, Sara wasn't waiting for it. She reached for the set of tools and struggling with the nausea and disgust for what she had done before, walked to the platform. With the help of a sizable pair of pincers, she began to carefully remove the nails. The Bulgarian gently lifted her chin and let out a muffled sigh. Sara was on the edge of freaking out, because this sound seemed as loud and shocking as if a jet flew over them.

Removing the thick bolts went slowly, and not only because of lack of proper tools. She didn't want to cause her companion any additional pain and tried her best in extracting nails quickly, in a few deft strokes. Before she could accomplish this, she had to practice, which led to a real festival of torment. With every move of the pincers, she could feel how great Mira's suffering was. The simple lack of hysterics didn't make Sara forget her worries.

The sounds made by metallic objects falling on the floor were like fanfares announcing the triumph. It was, however, mere half of the five pairs of shackles. It seemed that each next bolt would become easier to remove and it worked in case of the second, third and fourth ones, but her hands were beginning to tremble with fatigue and constant muscle tension. To reach a certain point, she had to stand on the balls of her feet and pull the arms up, and keep them in the same position for longer than a couple of seconds.

When Sara finished, she wanted to lie down and won't get up, but could not leave his companion halfway through.

Using her remaining strength, she reached for the scalpel to cut the rope, while holding Mira with her free hand to protect the prisoner from falling from height. She staggered when the frail body of a tortured woman was relying on her with its full weight. Gritting her teeth, the younger of the women slowly crouched down, supporting Mira and positioning her on the back. The Bulgarian widened her eyes and looked gratefully at her friend. Her brown eyes seemed enormous, set in a gaunt, wrinkled face.

"Mersi, Sara" Mira's voice was weak, like her life, hanging in the balance. "Can you help me ease the pain? It hurts so much..."

The blonde woman was speechless, hearing grammatically fluent English with a slight eastern accent.

"I speak the languages of developed countries" she went on, amused by the astonishment of her interlocutor. "I haven't revealed it before, because he was watching us... he was preparing something nasty for us... and it was much easier for me to get through this, pretending to be a lunatic..."

She sighed loudly.

"I thought that if I tell you too much, he'll kill us both... But now it doesn't matter, and I can see that your status..." the Bulgarian smiled uncertainly.

"You shouldn't force it" Sara moved closer, gently laying Mira's head on her lap. "Rest. I have some medicine with me. You'll take it, get better and we'll get out of here together."

The half-demented smile froze on the Bulgarian's lips, revealing several empty gums.

"No..." she clung onto Sara's arm, and touched her face with the other hand. Streak of drying blood was smudged on the younger woman's cheek, but she seemed not to pay any attention to it. She gently took Mira's fingers in her hand, as if that somewhat symbolic gesture could relieve her suffering. "I don't want to live... I don't want to feel pain anymore..."

"Can you tell me about it?" because Mira became talkative, Sara decided she wouldn't hush her. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere" came the vague answer. "I can't get up, I can't walk, can't sit, I can't eat, can't drink... My legs, arms, stomach... my whole body rebels against me... against my power."

As if to confirm these words, her hand held by Sara began to tremble, torn by convulsions. Instinctively, the blonde woman tightened her embrace, but this caused the wound to reopen.

"I tried!" Mira groaned "I tried to fight it!"

Horrified with the voice she just heard, Sara released her grip, and drops of blood left red stains, spreading over her white clothes.

"I fought even with myself. I stood against hundreds of my incarnations, and each of them had a different face."

She shut her eyes tightly. It might seem that the eyeballs were going to pierce the inside of the skull.

"And this butterfly" she blinked, which looked like a nervous tic. "Or a dragonfly. And actually, none of them... After all, insects don't have tentacles, do they?"

Sara was suddenly reminded of something. Ahmad mentioned tentacles in his final speech... it couldn't be a coincidence.

"What was that?" she caught interest in the last sentence and instead of giving comfort, switched her mode into getting as much information as possible "You know, that butterfly?"

"I don't know... But he had his eyes... his voice..." she managed to smile with her dried lips "Do you know who I mean? He used to be my beloved... and now, judging by the uniform, he is yours..."

Sara was going to deny it, but Mira feebly raised her index finger.

"We, women, we can see it... I see it in your eyes... that your union was consummated..."

"I had no choice" she began to explain. "You have to understand..."

"I don't blame you, I didn't prove to be immune, either. I gave in from the beginning to the end. Don't repeat my mistake and don't let him control you... But I know that you'll succeed. You're stronger than me..."

Sara shook her head.

"I have no power" she answered, feeling a lump in her throat. "I can't heal you. I can't take you back to the human world. I couldn't even avenge you."

"And I, in spite of my power, I wasn't able to do anything you've mentioned... or basically anything else but gradually killing myself. Superhumans, including me, often forget that the greatest strength comes from our hearts. That's why... even though you're not one of us, because of your inner power, you have a higher chance of breaking out of here, than I've ever had."

"Now..." she said flatly "I'm not sure I want to go back without you. After what happened... and because it's partly my fault..."

"Is that morphine?"

Mira was no longer looking at her caretaker, but as though she saw something behind her that was not there.

"It's probably the morphine" she repeated. "It must be the morphine. Give it to me."

She looked scary, like a drug or alcoholic addict, experiencing extreme hunger and begging for another bottle of the cheapest wine. Sara could feel how her desperate companion's fingers tighten around her forearm. Being convinced that Mira is on the verge of exhaustion, she was forced to change this opinion, because the grip was terribly painful.

Capitulating, Sara used her free hand to reach for the syringe labeled as _morfin_. The Bulgarian's eyes flashed with joy, as if she saw a gift she always wanted to receive.

"Give it to me" she demanded once again, with an inhuman determination.

Once the drug got within her range, she eagerly snatched it from Sara's hands. The blond turned as white as a sheet, when in a fraction of a second, the other injected a dose of morphine that could sweep a bodybuilder of their feet, let alone a petite, emaciated woman. Sara wanted to scream, to protest, but found herself at loss of words.

"How blissfully. Like in heaven" Mira whispered, falling limply to the ground. "Thank you... thank you for saving me."

"Mira..." Sara mumbled, holding her friend's head so that it wouldn't hit the concrete floor "I don't know how I could..."

"Oshte vednyzh mnogo ti blagodarya..."

Nothing could feel worse for Sara than hearing these words of farewell, and the moment when Mira died in her arms, with a faint smile on her lips.

Unable to do much for her companion, Sara closed Mira's eyes. She also took care of the body and positioned it in a way that the deceased looked like she was asleep. When the blonde woman emerged from the tunnel, and then passed by a segment with the corpses of the other prisoners, she saw a passage, which earlier - she could swear to it – wasn't there. Guessing correctly, that this road led to the exit, she strolled slowly, straight for the meeting with Szayelaporro.

No one knew what had the Espada expected and why he was waiting in this place, but when he was faced with Sara, a biting remark, which he had at the tip of his tongue, was stuck in his throat. The woman was giving an outward appearance of supreme confidence, looking like someone in the position of authority. She was no longer crying, and her eyes were filled with anger. Blood stains very clearly stood out on her white uniform and pale skin, and completed the image of a terrible barbarian witch possessed by lust for murder.

She walked to the arrancar, hurling lightning bolts with her stare.

"I know that technically you're dead" she said to the Espada in a stern voice "but for what you did today, one death is not enough as your punishment. For what you did today, you should die at least a thousand times. I'll make sure you'll pay for it."

He laughed dryly.

"And who would be this 'a thousand times' executioner? You? Easy to say, but hard to accomplish. You're barking at me like a cowardly dog, lacking the courage to bite."

"It's a matter of time" she replied ominously. "My imprisonment won't last forever, similarly as your alliance with Aizen. Your boss came into open conflict with his former colleagues, and it's only a question of timing when they are going to strike back."

"Oh dear, how could I forget about your shinigami colleagues who'll surely make every possible effort to rescue you" he teased her. "But enough of these meaningless discussions. This is the end of our little trip. Get moving."

Sara didn't make a single step.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked aggressively

He turned back and looked at her provocatively.

"And if I said that we are going to the bedroom?"

Her reaction was unexpectedly quick and unusual for someone who disliked flight and violence. She clenched her right fist and tried to hit him in the face. The Espada easily grabbed Sara's wrist and stopped the blow.

He gripped her wrist so tightly that her hand became almost livid, but such discomfort didn't discourage the woman from attacking. The arrancar didn't hear her scream, either. Judging from how strained she looked, Sara had to struggle with severe pain, however, she didn't utter any sound.

"You know what would Ilieva do, being in your situation? She would crawl in front of me, begging me to devote her some of my precious attention. She was always so pleased to hear my laughter in response to her pathetic advances. She would be delighted if I let her lick clean the soles of my shoes."

He repositioned his hand a bit, so that his index finger effortlessly parted Sara's fist.

"I've heard her saying that you're stronger than her. This is undoubtedly true. But know this, Sara Morgenstern, even strong people need to properly channel their power to achieve the desired result."

Before he released the grip, he leaned over her hand and licked Mira's blood. After her previous experience, Sara had no doubt it was behaviour of a sexual nature. Or at least this was the intention of the Espada, because she felt uncomfortable, as if hurt by bad touch.

"What a surprise" he commented. "Even spawn of such a common vermin may taste decently, when administered properly."

She shivered as he spoke. He scrutinized her with his sharp gaze and narrowed his eyes, like he was preparing for a hunt. He brought her hand towards his face and nuzzled inside of the wrist - where she usually applied perfume - and brushed it with his lips. In a stark contrast to things which occurred earlier, it was not an unpleasant feeling. Sara held her breath and stiffened, which seemed to be something that Szayelaporro was waiting to happen.

Her arm, released from tight grip, fell easily, like a wooden limb of a puppet. The Espada, apparently satisfied with the conclusion of their conversation, headed into another mysterious location, and his farewell words were:

"Because you don't seem to be capable of doing any work today, use the remaining time to rest. We shall meet tomorrow."

When Sara heard the sound of receding footsteps, she finally relaxed, and her wildly beating heart was starting to calm down. She was tempted to run after him in order to stab him in the back, or just to call out her frustrations. It all, however, seemed immature and inadequate to the situation. According to the universal logic, she had no chance in battle against any arrancar, especially an Espada. And what possibly could be gained by sacrificing her life for a few people who couldn't be resurrected?

 _Nothing_ , she said to herself. _My strength, noted by Mira, won't do anything when I'm dead. And by staying here, I can interfere with his plans. I won't forgive this bastard, who doesn't have any respect for other beings and throws human life away, just because he considers it useless._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter XIII

Although all rooms in the laboratory were windowless, Sara could sense when it's night time and correctly recognize the moment when she should get up, and take care of building a bridge of small pebbles, measuring her progress. When the said bridge would be ready, it would connect Las Noches with the human world, and she would be able to safely reach the other side.

She was determining the exact hour according to her impressions, as the clocks in the available devices were set in different time zones, so this indication was not quite accurate. The following days were alike, making them pass in a way a clerk ticked the checkboxes. Much depended on how Szayelaporro staged the highlight of each day, but mornings were always the same: quick bath, hair styling, change into a clean uniform, makeup, a Spanish lesson, dancing exercises... In the evening, in turn, Sara devoted most of time to calm down before going to sleep, to be able to rest, mainly from overwhelming melancholia.

She valued harmony, but didn't like it to fall into monotony, which in the long run led to boredom. Sara could recall very well the feeling of shame when confronted with her spectacular mistakes at her current job. The drive for action was simply too strong to resist. Combined with the sense of ennui, from time to time resulted in scheming, provoking problems or making the co-workers confront one another... The management didn't recognize Sara's questionable practices, and even when someone reported her behaviour, the affair was quickly swept under the carpet due to lack of clear evidence of anyone's guilt.

No one was harmed. Nobody got a notice. No project was delayed, no work product wasn't delivered on time. No client was dissatisfied. And Sara herself was too valuable for the company. That was why no one from the leadership was eager to take the risk of giving her a golden handshake. The management board knew they wouldn't find any suitable replacement for her within reasonable timeframe, which would cost them quite a revenue.

She received, however, a clear warning that she should not desire to achieve personal satisfaction at the expense of others. She took this lesson to heart and played office politics only out of necessity, in self-defense. At the same time, as a result of this case, she gained invaluable experience. It was not advised to brag about it, but one couldn't notice its usefulness in everyday interactions with clients and colleagues.

She learned to read between the lines and not to pay attention to everything that was spoken, but rather to observe the body language. Everything could be manipulated, distorted, acted. Training, which she went through, only strengthened this belief. Therefore, immediately when she met Szayelaporro, she knew which strategy to choose and how to carry out this cold war between them. Her adversary was someone skillful in the same mechanisms and was using them to achieve his goals, even though his way of thinking and making decisions was completely different. To win against him, she had to be smarter, more ruthless, cynical, essentially soulless.

Did she feel bad about this? Rather not. The only thing that bothered her was the feeling of futility of her actions. Did she read his signals properly? Perhaps she allowed to be unnecessarily provoked? Or shouldn't she waste energy on the side activities and focus solely on getting information that would help her get back home?

Sara ceased to fear that as soon as she would show strong will to survive and begin to set out conditions, she would be put on the operating table, deprived of limited freedom she could currently enjoy. The Espada would have never gone through so much concern to take care of her comfort just to expel her back to the examination room. Besides, Sara quickly realized that her presence in Las Noches is necessary for some vague purpose, because he clearly wanted her to stay alive. But in order for her not to become too insolent, every now and then he reminded her that she was only a prisoner. He found a twisted, but effective way to torment her by murdering those whom she cared for.

After she began to build relationships with other prisoners, they were subject to torture and mutilation, and then brutally killed. This was a truly devastating blow. And worst of all was her more or less active participation in murdering three out of four other prisoners. And it was perhaps the aspect that caused her terrible mood in the greatest extent. It upset her even more than the unscrupulous murders themselves. She hated to be treated like an object, like a puppet, meekly fulfilling tasks set out by its animator. Yesterday she got an exact role of a stage prop, assisting the director in making the audience pleased with the performance. Characters like hers also couldn't stand any expression of pity – even self-pity – which seemed like touching a raw wound. However, at this point, there was essentially nothing else to do and that facilitated even stronger aggression. She was full of negative energy, wanting to destroy everything that fell into her hands.

While she accepted Ahmad's death with indifference, and she couldn't see how Jason died, taking it not so personally, she still felt bitterness about the way of saying goodbye to Cristian. She did not have time to explain everything to him, prove her good intentions, and finally to apologize... and there was not enough time, because the director of the drama didn't allow it.

The fourth person, Mira, was a separate story. From the beginning, she felt a deeper bond with the Bulgarian than with the other prisoners. It was probably because at the first meeting she was interested in what Sara had to say, and in addition they were both women. They could have shared similar experience and problems because of their status in the laboratory. And although Sara guessed – mainly from Jason's situation and reactions – that Szayelaporro liked both women and men, the two of them were somewhat obvious targets, since sexual abuse of prisoners seemed to be nothing extraordinary. It was true that in her case any harassment was out of question, but she wanted to protect other women who lacked her determination and willpower.

 _Just like Nemu Kurotsuchi... who is physically much stronger than me, but can't cope with the work for her insane captain._

Disappointing was also the impression about how she wanted to help the others, which in the end made their situation even worse. A voice of reason, saying it was too late to change anything, didn't made her feel any better, although it was correct. She could not see a possibility to play this part differently, provided that she could magically turn back time. Even if she had stayed quiet and hadn't appealed for help to the prisoners, Szayelaporro would have brought this up sooner or later. After all, it was too tasty treat for him to resist the temptation. Such a huge piece of human flesh, which can be put into a grinder to enjoy the full range of emotion, suspicion, fear, begging for mercy...

It didn't surprise her that the Espada was waiting for her in the workspace. Probably he expected her to be agitated, and her professional composure contrasted with his stiff, unnatural upright posture. Szayelaporro seemed to make all his muscles taking an effort to disguise what his body really wanted to say.

This could be a trap camouflaging another trap. She was to think he was not in the best shape to let her guard down.

 _I'm starting to fall into paranoia,_ she scolded herself. _Maybe it's just that the guy didn't get enough sleep. Or it's a hangover._

These glimpses of absurd added her courage to simply pass in front of him as if he was not there. When the Espada felt her eyes on him, he went closer to the centre of the room and sat down comfortably. He stared intently, as she took out a pair of gloves for the drawer, and switched on the laptop and tablet. Sara was also watching him surreptitiously. While smoothly moving her fingers, dragging around the touchscreen, and studying the notes, she asked provocatively:

"You're here to talk about your experiments, aren't you? Do you necessarily want to face the consequences of torturing Mira to death?"

He beamed unexpectedly, as if waiting for this kind of inquiry.

"No false modesty, please. I've come here to see if you are able to continue the work. I see that my fears were unfounded and you've very quickly got over after your friend's death."

"Mira was not my friend" she corrected him dryly, putting the tablet back on the countertop. "We've barely known each other."

Szayelaporro flashed a mischievous smile at her.

"It's somewhat logical. If you knew her better, I guarantee you would look down at her in equal degree, as you despise some of your colleagues from the human world, who you usually categorize as 'low IQ'."

She looked at him suspiciously, as recalling this detail of her behaviour was startling.

"Maybe yes, maybe no. Now I won't find that out. But no matter who Mira used to be, I won't deny solidarity with another woman, who was imprisoned and abused here. Our circumstances were very similar."

"Your circumstances were not similar at all" he reworded the last sentence.

She gave him a quizzical look, and his smile softened a little.

"Mira Georgieva Ilieva was an esper of considerable power" he continued "and if mobilized to develop her talent, she would outshine even me. Instead, she preferred to do absolutely nothing except wallowing in self-pity and indulging in misfortune brought upon her, because she was born with extraordinary powers. If you have a vision of a selfless defender of the oppressed that I captured, brutally putting an end to her noble mission, I'll disappoint you. I was disappointed myself when I learned that Ilieva doesn't use her abilities even for trivial profit purposes. And you know perfectly well the economic situation in Bulgaria... With the income earned as an esper, she could support the whole family."

It was another instance - after Cristian's desperate request for help - when Sara didn't have an idea what to say and was listening in silence. She could refer to the fact that, according to the Espada, each person gifted with special abilities should think primarily about themselves and making themselves rich, exploiting society with excessive hourly rates, but it was unnecessary prolongation of their exchange.

"Ilieva spent most of the time in hospitals, spas or other similar places, trying to improve her 'poor health'" sarcasm in this sentence was very clearly noticeable "while the costs of her living were covered by her relatives. Or from the taxes paid by the citizens, which eventually means the same. When I met her, she was going to try out some new 'experimental therapy', purchased by her mother. I deprived her of this possibility, in return offering my version of 'recovery.' Speaking plain words, I tried to spur her into action to do something constructive. And despite the fact that none of my methods proved to be effective, I didn't mean to kill her. This was an absolute and ultimate emergency. I wouldn't get rid of my research material – especially one so carefully selected and acquired with so many difficulties."

He paused to additionally underline the impression his speech was supposed to make, waiting for Sara's contribution to this conversation.

"In my opinion" she said after a short deliberation "Mira evidently suffered from depression, which wasn't properly diagnosed, nor treated."

"And you think that none of the medical consultants, who supported Ilieva's therapies, couldn't diagnose such a simple reason behind her permanent indisposition? Do you really believe that you, a layman, working solely on the basis of your observations, are in the best position to determine what exactly was wrong with her?"

"I can't see your point."

"On the contrary, your mind already matches what you've just heard with what you've seen with your own eyes. You know I'm telling the truth and Ilieva, despite pretty good predispositions, was a social parasite, that is, a type of a person you wholeheartedly hate. In my lab at least she turned into something useful. If she was still in the human world, she would still evade pursuing her education or taking on any work. She would make her living from her family's money, giving them absolutely nothing in return."

Sara was still upset as a result of yesterday's events, and although this story sounded plausible, she would sooner allow scorching her feet on fire than would admit Szayelaporro was right. Information he just shared with her fitted into a variety of observations on Mira, which Sara didn't pay attention to before. It also turned upside down the idealized image of the inmates portrayed as innocent victims.

 _Even Cristian... He said himself he was a hitman._

"She was also your mistress" she remarked coldly.

"Is that what she told you?"

"Maybe not directly, but it was not that hard to guess from the context."

He snorted quietly.

"She always had a fevered imagination. And you're too naive, believing everything made up by this old, broken parody of a human."

"Maybe you forgot?" she asked ironically, in a singing tone "With your capacity, you've lost your count at some point..."

"Shut up, let me finish and stop insulting me" he interrupted her sharply. "I'm not a male whore and I'm not into everything that moves. It's not my fault that men and women of various species like my companionship. However, no matter the case, I choose my partners myself."

His manner didn't discourage her from making another invasive inquiry.

"Mira also had a scar on her abdomen, apparently after a cesarean section. What have you done with the child?"

Sara maintained self-control over her voice, so that it didn't tremble when asking this question, but her anger was clearly lingering. Szayelaporro laughed in response.

"Again, you're trying to show off your questionable medical knowledge. This scar could also be a result of a different type of surgery. I won't suggest you any alternative, though I can confirm or reject your other indications – that is, if you have any other ideas... A child?" he grinned "Why would I need a human child that needs to be fed and taken care of? Her DNA was sufficient. And if you're so interested in conspiracy theories, I haven't got closer to this woman for fifteen years or more. I only remember that her submissiveness was boring, and – like in your case – I gave her a choice."

Her face showed doubt. Sara was thoroughly analyzing everything she just heard, trying to put the data in order. She felt shattered as most of the new information didn't quite fit her earlier assessment.

 _How is it possible that I've made such a big mistake?_

She looked attentively at her interlocutor.

 _He lies so easily... Why do I assume that he told me the truth?_

"Can we close this topic?" he asked, interpreting her silence his way "I want to move on to address something else."

 _It makes no sense to ask the other questions that I wanted to ask... or to dig into that 'angel with bloody wings', or 'butterfly with golden eyes.' Certainly I won't hear the truth._

"I'm listening."

"I studied carefully your analysis of the black holes. The theories you formulated are bold, but bear a semblance of probability. What's more, your approach interested me enough to review it with you once more. Prepare all the support documentation you've collected as evidence. Tomorrow morning we will meet to discuss the practical implications and determine further steps in this regard."

She nodded.

"Okay" she commented briefly. "I will be ready."

"That's it? No questions?"

"Your instructions were clear enough."

He smiled broadly.

"You can't imagine how much I enjoy that we understand each other so well."

After a long monologue interlaced with several questions, specifying the selected issues, there was a moment of an awkward silence. Sara talked about the practical aspects of the Project _Garganta_ , convincing his interlocutor there is a way to construct a mechanical device, allowing to travel between Hueco Mundo and the human world, or perhaps also to other dimensions.

After they finished discussing the technical issues, they both fell silent, as certain conclusions were evident and exposed like a lonely cactus in a desert. It was impossible for Sara not to think of the most obvious application of the _garganta_ technology for her current needs, and she didn't mention it aloud only due to courtesy. Despite this, every being with IQ higher than its shoe size, couldn't miss such a solution and shrouding this idea in quietness didn't make it any more mysterious.

Szayelaporro certainly was aware about the train of thought of the woman sitting opposite him, as was evidenced by a smug smirk in her direction.

"Don't even think about running away" he said, seemingly politely, looking at her out of contemptuous half-closed eyes. "Even if by a fortunate coincidence you could take control over this mechanism, don't forget that I remain in touch with your world. I have all the personal information about you in my possession. At any time I can provide your friends and family with a video, which records what you've been doing during your absence."

The last remark irritated her so much that she couldn't resist a confrontation.

"Don't try to scare me" she said firmly. "Cyber violence and stalking are considered criminal activities in the human world. We are able to effectively defend against them. I'll call my colleagues from cyber sec, and together we'll make short work of you and your ridiculous threats."

He didn't comment, which was an incentive to continue the verbal attack.

"Besides, let's be serious" she went on derisively. "Who would find a sex tape shocking? Who would watch it? My friends are adults, not a bunch of sick perverts like you, desperately putting their hands on any type of home-made porn. I am a free, unmarried woman of legal age, so I can sleep with whoever I like and it's nobody's business."

He listened with growing amusement, not interrupting. Only after she stressed a full stop after the last sentence, he said nonchalantly:

"I wonder if your partner is of the same opinion."

It was easy to see that Sara is enraged, partially because she responded very quickly, as if giving an answer prepared beforehand.

"It's an entirely different thing" she snapped. "Ernest knows that I love him. You are what we call 'a friend with benefits'. In the human world, there is a huge difference between both of these options."

"Who are you trying to convince with this clumsy reasoning? Recently you've made so many contradictions that unless you change your mind this often, you're going to get lost between what you really think and what you're trying to put into your head as the correct course of action."

"Don't play on my own words" she said abruptly. "I don't see any contradictions. There is nothing I can be accused of."

"I don't intend to accuse you of anything, I'm just trying to interpret your behaviour. How is it that now you emphasize your freedom of choice, and when I offered you a night together, you protested with indignation? In case you forgot, let me remind you that it was you who first hinted that you're interested in me. You didn't make any moves, so I've done you a favour, and made my own proposal. In response, I heard quite a firm refusal. Had I been a bit more sensitive, I would run away and I avoid any further meetings with you."

She sighed.

"Can't you tell the difference between silly jokes and reality? I may like someone met in the street or in a restaurant, but that's not to say I would..."

"Is it because you feel bad in situations over which you don't have complete control?" He took no notice of her and steadily went on. "When it's _your_ initiative, no matter how repulsive, according to your standards, everything is fine. In order to cover it up, you'll find another specious excuse or shut everyone's mouth by issuing a command."

"If you have a problem with the fact that I am an independent woman and I don't allow to be treated like anyone's property, then you have to deal with it yourself, I won't help you" she replied haughtily. "I repeat: that SMS conversation was a joke. Maybe it was beneath a decent level, so you don't get it. Before you say anything" she added quickly before the Espada could counterattack "let me stress that I know exactly what you want to tell me. You're pointing out the inconsistency of my views and behaviour, yet you are an even worse hypocrite. You despise beings other than the hollows, and even look down at your fraccion, while unquestionably following a shinigami! Note this is the shinigami, who made you look like a human, that is, according to your assessment, the imperfect species and equipped you with a zanpakuto, a weapon used by your hated enemies. Then, why did you bring up this topic? What is the meaning of the discussion you've started? Why do we have to exchange the arguments and evidence, how we are both despicable and deceitful, since..."

"...since we're the same?" He finished her line. "Brilliant deduction. Congratulations."

"I wanted to say something else" she added sourly. "I don't think we're the same, but we both perform certain tasks because it is duty to do so, even though it's in conflict with what we feel. Or rather with our vision of the future" she corrected her choice of words, being aware that Szayelaporro might not understand the concept of 'feeling'. "And as I don't like complaining, it's logical that taking control or being in charge seems to me the best action to change the things I don't approve of."

"After all, who would know better what to do than you, right?" he added ironically "You seem to know exactly what the others need, too."

"Other people" she said, adjusting to his cynic-playful tone. "Because I don't know what the hollows would prefer."

He smiled with closed lips.

"If I haven't been dealing with humans before, based on the recent events I could only conclude that your species finds its purpose in being deceived and manipulated, and then in dying, no matter in how ugly manner, but making sure to avoid the pain."

Sara was visibly sulking, reminded of Mira Ilieva's last moments.

"And if I was to assess hollows taking you as the example" she attacked the new subject with a dose of venom. "I would conclude these are monsters, which should be removed from the scheme of creation."

"Let's keep our minds away from pathos, please, it makes my head spin. And why wouldn't the monsters have any place in the chain of evolution? Are all beings in the human world altruistic and lacking aggression? What would you say about the predators? Or even about the history of your country... Haven't you heard about any murders, robberies, wars or uprisings? Is it fair to guess that conflicts and aggression are inscribed in human nature?"

Szayelaporro made a short pause, and Sara frowned, thinking about the answer. Because she was silent, he continued:

"Objectively speaking, we are quite similar, the biggest difference is the scale. There are different attitudes accepted among humans and different ones in Hueco Mundo, although we do have the common heritage: the constant struggle for survival. Devour or be devoured... One will be consumed and become something greater than either."

Since she still looked unconvinced, he leaned towards her and asked:

"And you, pacifist? Are you trying to sell me the idea that you've never led any battle?"

Her response was cautious:

"I'm against war and killing, but I'm aware that I can't simply stop the bloodshed around the world. However, I don't answer violence with violence. I'm fighting for a decent life for myself and my loved ones with methods I find appropriate, never at the cost of taking someone's life."

"Probably I'll surprise you, but I agree with you. I also don't like to fight, at least not in the purely physical aspect. I see the fight, first and foremost, as an opportunity to develop and to learn something new, however, I don't belong to those who find pleasure in slaughter or causing anguish."

Sara opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her incoming flow of speech, making an illustrating gesture.

"In my research, pain is sometimes necessary as part of the procedure, but isn't an end in itself. The same goes with the killing. I spend a lot of time searching for specimens that could be studied for valuable information or new weapons algorithms. Lab rats sometimes die, but their death has never been the purpose of my experiments. You are the best example. I could kill you right after I got your DNA, and then create a group of fraccion based on your genetic material. It is highly probable they would be less recalcitrant and obstructive than you" he smirked. "But one should ask themselves a question: why? A copy, even perfectly done, is always a clumsy imitation of the original, carefully selected by myself among a million of other humans. Also, fraccion are not suitable for conducting any research that you've done so far."

He rose from his seat, clearly pointing out that their conversation is about to end.

"Consider this an approval for the project regarding construction of the black hole generator. You may start work on your findings, but to get the full perspective, I'll send you some additional issues to review."

"All right" she replied in almost mechanical tone. "I'll handle it."

His smile grew wider.

"Excellent. I'm genuinely curious about the practical conclusions you'll come to. We'll determine the formal rules of reporting progress of your work later on. Right now I want to receive short status updates at least once a day. To make it easier, I'll generate for you a login and password for the Las Noches communicator. Except me, hardly anyone is using this application, although it's pretty user-friendly."

"I've already launched it before. The app as such works, but I can't send any messages. It looks like some kind of firewall is blocking outbound communications."

He nodded approvingly.

"Exactly that. As a result, I'm not bothered by random people, it also restricts data leaks. Because you're an advanced user, we'll need just some minor fine-tuning, and going forward we can communicate using this tool. Would you mind if I accompany you on the way to your quarters?"

She was surprised when he made a gesture, as though he wanted to offer her his arm, like an old-fashioned gentleman.

"Not at all. The sooner we start, the better" she said, slowly backing away. "Let's go, then."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter XIV

"Can I really see her?"

Yylfordt's voice sounded very excited. As a contrast, his younger brother demonstrated cool demeanor and sighed helplessly, as though he had to deal with an obnoxious child.

"You've been such a bother that I couldn't refuse. Do you want to back out now?"

The blond was indignant in a comical way.

"Of course not! I can't miss such an opportunity!"

"Opportunity" Szayelaporro repeated ironically. "Opportunity for what? For meeting a human. Because there aren't far too many humans living in their world. Soon you'll have so many people around you that you'll get sick at the mere sight of them."

"I don't care for this _humano chusma_. I'm interested only in this girl you've raised as your assistant" he licked his lips lasciviously. "Knowing your sophisticated taste, she must be a really nice piece of ass. I thought maybe..."

"Maybe you'd better not think and leave this process for those who can handle it properly" the scientist finished sternly.

Yylfordt froze for a few seconds with not so intelligent face, but then it seemed like he wanted to tear his interlocutor to pieces.

"Say it again, and I'll kick you in the balls!"

"Stop yelling" the scientist scolded his brother. "Or, even better, don't say anything at all."

"You must have me for a complete idiot if you think I'll sit quietly during the meeting, which I called."

"I'm just curious how you'd like to communicate with my – as you called her – assistant. Her Spanish is hopeless, and when you speak English, I bet you can't understand yourself."

"Hah hah" he laughed mockingly. "Very funny. But okay, if you are scared that I'll offend this lady with my accent, I'll simply make her fall for my roguish charms..."

As usual, Szayelaporro led his brother through the endless corridors, taking many unnecessary turns, so that even after many visits he was not able to recreate the topography of the laboratory. Earlier, he asked Sara to wait in the styled living room, where they often discussed various matters, and announced a meeting to be held there. He noted although she was not particularly pleased with this announcement, he knew she would comply. The human was concerned about the unexpected visit of someone from the outside, on the other hand, it made her interested and full of suspicion as for the hidden meaning behind this case.

As predicted, Sara didn't surprise him, which only confirmed that she was a sensible woman, just how he thought of her. She was sitting in one of the chairs, upholstered in light gray leather and was reading something on her iPhone. As soon as she heard someone entering the room, she put the device into her pocket and stood up.

Deep inside, she was afraid of confrontation because she didn't believe that they would simply meet and talk. If that was the case, she wouldn't have to show up in person. Recently, they had more and more online discussions using the Las Noches internal communicator. Except for a complex security protocol, the application was easy to use and the only difficulty that Sara should cope with, was the language.

Szayelaporro made it crystal clear that he wouldn't answer messages written in a language other than Spanish, which was a clever way to force her to go beyond the exercises and fake dialogues with the imaginary friends from the textbooks. What was surprising, though the Espada often laughed at her mistakes, he proved to be a capable teacher. As a result of their conversations, she improved a lot, especially got rid of the habit of making up words, using English or Romanian expressions with Spanish endings. He was continuously encouraging her to search for new vocabulary.

She was considering it a bit like destruction of her identity and gradual blending into the arrancar 'society'. On the other hand, the fact that she gained a new skill was positive, therefore there was no reason to complain, which ceased analyzing the scientist's behaviour in this context.

Especially that the laboratory was visited by another promising object for observation.

Yylfordt Granz. Arrancar number fifteen, currently not an Espada, but aspiring to promotion.

Sara had studied the hollows before, using the shinigami's available sources, supplemented by the information obtained with the help of a friendly 'white hat' hacker. As it turned out, in Las Noches, there was even more accurate data bank, run by the scientist. Gaining access to it was not difficult, once she learned where to look. She went through these files a few dozen times, mostly due to the fact that they were written in Spanish, recognizing this as another chance to practice the language. She tried also to memorize as many facts as it was possible, although she regretted that the author didn't include his personal opinions in the descriptions.

 _He's Grimmjow's subordinate... works for the Sixth Espada_ , she quickly recapitulated the contents of the files. _Why Szayelaporro brought him here? Is it another idea for oppressing me? Had he dreamed of a recording with me and the blondie? Or maybe..._

"What is a Sexta Fraccion doing here?" she asked haughtily. "Do we really have any need for the likes of him?"

Emotional coldness and detachment were ideal for masking fear, moreover, these already proved useful during her imprisonment. This was her way of defense against the arrancar, who were like predators, like stray dogs attacking opponents, whom they considered weak. The measure of the said weakness was the terror they stroke into someone else's hearts.

"Yylfordt Granz didn't visit us as a Grimmjow's subordinate" Szayelaporro replied politely. "He's my older brother. We work on some projects together."

She looked at the blond defiantly. He did not seem to be discouraged by her lack of interest, on the contrary, he grinned widely at her.

"Is this a hoax? Hollows can't have siblings" she said coldly, still speaking to the Espada, not to Yylfordt. "It's biologically impossible."

"You still don't understand it's all likely to happen because we're in Hueco Mundo" said Szayelaporro in a silky voice. "That was actually why I decided to let you know each other. An arrancar, who is the brother of another arrancar and a human fraccion... but it's too extensive and complex topic for this occasion."

Sara did not feel comfortable when Yylfordt seemed to be meticulously examining her, smiling friendly and even amiably all the time. He didn't share his brother's style of setting as many verbal pitfalls as Szayelaporro could fit in one sentence. Actually, he didn't say anything at all, and his behaviour could indicate that he didn't understand her question.

 _It's not fair that I have to memorize Spanish words, and the brother of the head of this lab can afford not to speak English._

"...and because we have to discuss a sensitive issue" continued the scientist, oblivious to the fact that Sara wasn't listening to him "we will be very obliged if you leave us alone now."

It sounded too good to be true. It was illogical as well, to ask her to attend this meeting in order to quickly send her back to her quarters. Therefore, Sara did not feel relief, but she began to wonder what was going on.

"All right" she said in a neutral tone. "If anything is needed, you know where to find me."

"Of course" he nodded, appearing pleased. "See you later."

 _Let's hope not._

Sara smiled to herself, while opening a rift and exiting Szayelaporro's apartment in slow, fluid pace, so that no one suspected her of desperately escaping the unwanted meeting.

Yylfordt opened his mouth as soon as she turned her back on them, but his brother flung up his hand in a warning gesture. The blond didn't fully understand what the Espada meant before. After all, 'hopeless Spanish' suggested that Sara is familiar with this language to some extent. Even though it was not fluent knowledge, she could deduce the output of their conversation.

"What do you think?" Szayelaporro asked when she could not hear them anymore.

"She's perfect!" he exclaimed enthusiastically "She's... the same as you. Just like our missing sister..." He sighed dreamily, then smiled triumphantly and suddenly shot a startled look at his brother as if making a remarkable discovery. "But hey, she's a human!"

The Espada glanced at the blond arrancar doubtfully.

"What are you waiting for, change her into an arrancar, just as you did with your fraccion!" Yylfordt continued his 'dream of power'. "Then she'll really become one of us!"

"Yes, one of us..." repeated Szayelaporro quietly "But what do you think will happen when she's one of us?"

Yylfordt was flabbergasted.

"What do you mean? You need her for something... correct?"

Silence was the only answer to this question. The scientist was not going to facilitate this conversation, nor confirm or deny his brother's assumptions. It amused him to watch the blond taking such a huge effort. He seemed to sweat solely because of intense thinking process.

"Hmm... If you didn't need her..." there was a troubled expression on the blond's face as he was trying to find an explanation. "You wouldn't keep her that long, no matter how good she's in bed."

The younger brother refused to be provoked and remained quiet, smiling indulgently.

"Wait a sec... Earlier you mentioned something about being a part of your research or something like that. Does it have something to do with the brains you keep in jars?"

Szayelaporro mercifully rectified his brother's error.

"Sara Morgenstern is a genius according to the human standards, and her skills would help us in the ongoing war... and later, after the conquest of the new territories. She has extensive knowledge on techniques and technology used both by humans and the shinigami. She can work out the principles of operating the alien technology and create enhancements for a variety of devices. Besides, she would be a perfect commander of Numeros, as this band would finally have a chance to unite under one banner... or she'd be appointed as a governor of the humans, when we reach their world. We'll surely need a volunteer who'll oversee what's going on there. But the most serious and, in my opinion, an insoluble problem is that she can't fight. If she's dueled, this means instant defeat and death."

"I'm sure that Lord Aizen can find a way" said Yylfordt. "Wouldn't giving her zanpakuto do the trick?"

"She would have to learn swordsmanship from scratch. I'm not saying it's impossible, but how long do you think it might take? Is she able to get properly trained? Launching a full-scale invasion is a matter of a very short time horizon."

The arrancar let out a groan.

"It's a pity to waste such a specimen."

"This time, exceptionally, I agree with you, brother. Therefore, can you advise me anything practical? How should I incorporate this woman into our ranks?"

Yylfordt got lost in thought, creating an incredibly amusing impression. His wrinkles deepened from intense contemplation.

"Can't you turn to Lord Aizen?"

"I'll certainly do it, but I'd like to present him something more than just dry facts. So unless you have any ideas for this initiative, let's get back to the other matter that you wanted to discuss with me."

He slapped his forehead.

"Right! But it's such a silly thing, it got out of my head. There's a desert around us, and one day ravens appeared out of nowhere. For now, they stay away from us and move out when any of us comes close, but I don't like it. Also, there are more and more flies in our quarters."

"Maybe someone didn't get properly cleaned after a bloody battle or left dirty socks on the floor? Or that Yammy's stupid dog dragged something to the base. You know, brother, the smell of blood attracts scavengers and flies."

"Don't play dumb. This isn't normal, and recently Shawlong said that he was followed by one of those damned birds."

Szayelaporro smirked, but did not comment obviously impaired perception of the arrancar in question, though he was very tempted to do so.

"Did you bring those flies or a spying raven, so I can analyze them?"

"Well... not really..."

"So what are you waiting for?"

"Riiiiiiight... I'll bring you a dead fly or a bird in my pocket. You think that no one'll find that odd?!"

"Not quite" the scientist shook his head. "First of all, you need to properly protect the research material. You should deliver it to me in a sealable container made of chemically inert material, preferably glass. Due to the fact that insects or birds can carry important energy signatures, use a tool to place them in a container and don't touch them with your hands. Also, be careful about any potential damages to their structure. Remember, too, to prevent contamination of the sample by sand or other substances, because it will affect the results."

"I hate you."

"But at the same time you're curious what I might find in this carrion, right? I knew I could count on your help, brother."

Sara was convinced that the meeting with Yylfordt would absorb Szayelaporro long enough to overshadow the progress of the work on the mechanical portals, also called _garganta_. The Octava Espada expected that Sara would update him on what she was currently working on and how she was progressing, although it was in her best interest not to share any revolutionary discovery. Since she planned to use this technology to return home, she could not afford to be cut off from the project too early. And it could happen if Szayelaporro sensed any threat.

Although her thoughts were far from happy, she felt sleepy. This told her that it had already been late. Satisfied that she managed to avoid the arrancar for the rest of the day, she went to bed.

It was a great surprise that eventually Szayelaporro appeared in person, entering her bedroom when she was reading a book before going to sleep. Until now, he respected her private space, so it was something extraordinary that made him crossing some kind of a sacred barrier. While doing do, he suggested to her nothing more, nothing less than a continuation of the strengthening of a bond between them through another night spent together.

She refused, but more out of curiosity, to see how he would react, than because she was against the idea. The proposal itself didn't leave her with any feelings of disgust, on the contrary, could indicate the Espada's interest in her. It was undoubtedly positive as no one could have expected an arrancar getting involved in a relationship with a 'mere' human. It also proved that the whole affair became much more than testing cannon fodder for combat. And if this was true, it could vouch for the long-term plans for her survival. It obviously wasn't tantamount to indiscriminately engaging in a relationship with an arrancar. However, at that time the only thing that mattered was to cooperate in order to gain as much freedom as possible.

A separate issue was the extent what she would allow him to do. Sara had no issues with being assertive and didn't hesitate a second to demonstrate such attitude whenever needed. The first step was imposing her own conditions and setting the limits.

Szayelaporro accepted the refusal with dignity and while going back, he declared in a very subtle and polite way that he was not going to be discouraged in the future, and he would re-launch his proposal later on. Sara was too shocked to react (in different circumstances she would most surely laughed at him), but when he left, she felt bleak. She incorrectly assumed that after their one night stand, the arrancar would have enough and start hitting on someone else.

 _I suspect that one of the reasons may be there is no 'someone else' here._

There could be other reasons as well, but none of them was reassuring. Sara guessed this had to be a part of some Machiavellian plan and the Espada was trying to make her less vigilant, under the pretense of allying with a human.

 _I cannot evade him forever,_ she thought wistfully. _I need to agree when he asks me next time. Until then, however, I must observe and analyze, to find out what has changed... and why he is interested in me again. When I know what is going on, it'll be easier to put the things into proper perspective and think over a new strategy._

Szayelaporro, although seemingly achieved nothing, was in a good mood, and certainly in higher spirits than Sara.

In a sense, it was Yylfordt who hinted him the idea. He suggested to change the captured woman into 'one of us'. The drastic intervention in the form of hollowfication and subsequent transformation to an arrancar could fail, especially at this stage, therefore, he rejected this option. It didn't stop him from looking for alternatives. From the beginning it was evident that Sara was working towards one goal: to survive and return to the human world, and everything she had done so far was strongly related to what she wanted to accomplish.

Her involvement in developing the project of a mechanical _garganta_ portal was risky, because without any doubt or hesitation, Sara would use this technology to her advantage. At the same time, there was no other choice. Recently, Aizen made him clearly understand that he had to focus on the enemy's abilities, that is, to study them, find ways to neutralize them, and ideally also copy the most useful features for the Arrancar Army. He managed to avoid getting a serious reprimand when he presented the preliminary findings from the examination of the four people with special abilities and subsequent tests of his newly developed combat techniques.

However, the situation couldn't continue as it was. He didn't have enough time or proper resources to simultaneously carry out several important research processes. Besides, juggling lots of different tasks was not his way of delivering the work. He always strived to do something right or didn't do it at all. That was why he needed help of someone who would lead the projects, which were promising, but Aizen didn't have any interest in them.

But who might it be?

Among the arrancar, including Las Espadas, there was no one with sufficient potential. Moreover, it was no secret that during Aizen's or his henchmen's absence in Hueco Mundo, Las Espadas were fighting with each other. There were too many conflicting issues and priorities between them to regard them as one team. The moments when they were working together, unified by a common cause, were very rare and usually forced by Aizen's orders.

His brother was another possibility.

Even if Yylfordt showed a greater commitment to science and new discoveries, instead of fighting for the dubious pleasure for the sake of fight on behalf of the aggressive sixth Espada, he couldn't fully trust him. His brother wouldn't consciously betray him, but he could slip one significant remark, which heard by, for example, Gin Ichimaru, could extend to a catastrophe.

Sara Morgenstern met all the expectations. From the beginning, he was sure he did the right thing, having her undergo different tests than the ordinary ones, intended for other lab rats. Her skills and sharp, analytical mind intrigued him from the first conversation with her. The abilities, which she proved to him, were not as simplistic as others he investigated. Those ones could be used at most to create the next generation of mindless rag-tags, fighting for the mere sake of fight. Her talent required skillful pulling the strings, as opposed to brute force the arrancar liked so much. Quite different were also the effects. Instead of wreaking havoc among the enemy ranks, she simply persuaded the crowds to follow her.

And, surprisingly, she proved to be extremely successful.

It was scary in its own way - someone who didn't fight with the sword, but with the pen, subdued others in a bloodless manner. At least in cases when there was the other party who would be willing to listen to her.

Fortunately, now she didn't have any opportunities for this kind of action. And isolating her from any beings – meaning that she would not have a chance to use her persuasion skills – was a piece of cake. Besides, even if she somehow went out of the laboratory, would Aizen or whoever put any faith in the words spoken by a human? The most optimistic scenario would assume that she perished quickly, killed by a random hollow.

Sharing his secrets related to the timespace travel via _garganta_ included a lot of thrilling gambling. He provided her with a lot of insights, but didn't tell everything and his explanations were not always so thorough. These were safety measures to ensure that the tool could be used without causing any harm to his other plans. There was no guarantee the portal would take her home. And he knew well enough that she is too cautious to simply jump into unknown.

The only challenge he faced was to prolong the Sara's stay in Las Noches as much as possible. Since she was strongly motivated to reach her goal, which she consistently sought, he came to conclusion that violence and rape can only impede the progress. Treated with torture, most likely she would take any means to escape as soon as possible or would sabotage the further research. It would be significantly more convenient if Sara continued the work as her own initiative. She would undoubtedly do that, provided that she would be fully equipped and awarded for each milestone.

Therefore, he gradually improved her living conditions in the laboratory. He also noticed progressive changes in her behaviour, which he even mentioned during one of their conversations. While initially she was primarily cautious and introverted, observing the surroundings, clearly afraid to say one word too much, she eventually opened up and resembled her true self. She was openly expressing her opinions and was not afraid of confrontation.

He liked this incarnation of Sara a lot more. He preferred engaging his co-workers in lively discussions, provoking constructive feedback and a handful of valuable insights, instead of having sessions of meaningless acknowledgments. Hence, he intentionally overlooked her rather casual manner and inappropriate behaviour, and didn't respond when she tried to control or manipulate him, or was insulting him. In the end, it turned out to be insignificant, similar to a canary struggling in a cage, and Szayelaporro was far from taking any disciplinary measures. After all, he aimed for a colleague – a partner – who was smarter than the Octava Fraccion in order to have passionate debates on a variety of topics, not clichéd conversations about the weather.

Another way to increase Sara's motivation was sex. The night they spent together, despite initial reluctance, ended with mutual satisfaction. Her reactions were definitely enthusiastic and hinted him that another portion of such experience would make her pleased. At the same time, the woman seemed attractive enough to approach her again without disgust he usually felt when interacting with humans. In addition, knowing human psychology, he could assume that at some point Sara would became emotionally involved in the relationship, which would delay her final decision to escape... maybe for long enough to disable that option completely.

At first, she dismissed him, but he sensed her subtle interest in the proposal. Apparently she intended to take advantage of the fact that he was asking for her consent and demonstrated her semblance of authority over him. Later the same evening she 'accidentally' found a poisonous scorpion in her bedroom. Cameras showed that she dealt with it perfectly, and the insect wasn't a scare. Szayelaporro hoped, however, that she combined these two facts together and drew the appropriate conclusions.

The next time could be celebrated a success, although if the arrancar looked at their romantic encounter on cameras, he would consider the applause premature. The entire laboratory was usually silent and that night was not an exception. One could hear muffled moans, heavy sighs, rapid breathing and an exchange of whispered commands. No triumphant shouts of belonging to each other, tearing confessions or calling the name of the other person.

In contrast, when it was all over, Sara and Szayelaporro laid side by side in silk sheets, not keeping eye contact or not even touching each other. None of them got up or return to their respective duties probably because of pure laziness, as they didn't want to move. Both were absorbed in their own thoughts, as if the other person didn't exist.

"I've read your draft report" said the arrancar all of a sudden. "It's very well written, concise and precise, and contains all the details I wanted to know. For future, I'd prefer Spanish to English, to maintain continuity with the reports I prepared myself."

Sara was conflicted. On the one hand, she liked the feeling of being sought after by an interesting, smart man. It flattered her that he probably really believed her to be attractive, because otherwise he wouldn't continue relationship with a human woman. She couldn't complain that he didn't try to satisfy her, either - in this respect the Espada displayed amazing initiative. However, immediately after their first night together, she realized how much their sex was dehumanizing. Devoid of any deeper connection, it persistently reminded her of mutual masturbation. Or - at best - with elaborate gymnastics.

"I'm not that advanced with vocabulary" she said after a long moment of silence. "Particularly technical. I've uploaded an app that helps me to translate from Spanish to English and vice versa, but a specialized nomenclature is something that I still need to work on."

She covered herself. Those were meaningless considerations. A hollow is only a little more sophisticated being than a reanimated corpse. She couldn't expect from Szayelaporro nothing more than some gymnastics as an unusual 'reward.' The experience was enjoyable and helped her deal with the accumulated frustrations and stress. It wasn't anything altruistic. It was an ordinary contract. A transaction. Research reports for him and satisfaction for her.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I got distracted" she admitted frankly. "I didn't expect that you'll talk about work in such circumstances."

"You may assume I lack the vocabulary for this occasion" he said in an amused tone. "It's time like any other. But feel free to change the topic if you'd like to."

When his hand reached for her, she unexpectedly pushed him off.

"Something's wrong?" the Espada asked, backing off

"No" she answered quickly, and after a while she added "Actually, yes. But it's not your fault."

His smile disappeared as blown out a candle flame when Sara got up from the bed and began to dress herself.

"I have to go" she explained briefly, not even looking at him. "I'm not in the mood."

When she left the bedroom, the Espada sat motionless for a moment, then got up and smashed his fist into the wall. The force of the impact had to be immense, because almost his entire forearm fit inside. When he slowly pulled his hand out of the crater, his fingers grabbed a batch of white cables that must have been put there. The stronger he was dragging them, the emptier his surroundings became. As the cables were torn out, all the appliances and stucco were gone, leaving uniform, white walls and gray concrete floor as a result.

Szayelaporro didn't devote these nondescript foundations a single glance and left the room, passing through a spiritual rift. After he set his feet on the threshold, the room itself begun to disintegrate, as though it had been neglected for many years before. The fate of this place was sealed by a collapsing ceiling.

The Espada would probably use this space again, after modifying and arranging it again. Now, though, he no longer wanted to stay in a place reminding him of a defeat.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter XV

Sara had never imagined that being a prisoner in Las Noches would ever taste of routine. Boredom leading to insanity – yes, but certainly not routine. When she was captured and brought to Hueco Mundo, she was afraid of every passing hour and overcautious on what she said and did. Although she could not admit this experience made her completely immune to fear, she became stronger, as Mira wished.

Working in the laboratory started to become pleasure. It was a place where knowledge opened the door to totally new projects, data sets and fascinating processes, which one could see with their own eyes for the first time, as the shinigami recognized this type of information as strictly confidential and didn't share them with humans.

And as soon as she realized that Szayelaporro didn't supervise her as closely as at the very beginning, she could modestly praise him for giving her relative autonomy. Nobody told her when she should sleep, how much time can she spent on rest or other activities unrelated to work. She could schedule tasks at her sole discretion, provided that she accomplished them flawlessly. She didn't have to do the cleaning, cooking or perform other 'administrative' work, which could be expected from her to engage in, taking into consideration her status as a prisoner.

She also had to admit that calling herself as a prisoner made less and less sense. There was no prohibition on leaving the workspace. The Espada let her move freely within the laboratory and did not intervene to bring her back to her quarters at any rate. The Octava Fraccion called her their 'Maestra' and carried out her orders as if she was their creator. Although it was beyond reasonable doubt that these defective hollows couldn't be turned against Szayelaporro at her command, but still, it was a positive note. At least she wasn't eaten upon the first opportunity.

All this sounded absurd, provoking anxiety, but Sara was far from falling into paranoia. She simply continued observing what was happening around with her critical eye. Las Noches certainly belonged to the places where you should be constantly vigilant and couldn't let your guard down, looking at the situation with rose-coloured glasses.

She guessed that after the brutal murder of the four people, who were subject to experiments, there was no one of her kind in the laboratory. Naturally, she could not say that with absolute certainty, but intuitively she could sense the subtle difference. It started to be much quieter after the four prisoners disappeared from Szayelaporro's vault. Without any dramatic revelations, the passing days were very similar to each other. Sara could just work and perform her tasks, which she enjoyed, and using this opportunity, she was getting valuable information about her return home.

Hence, unusual for Hueco Mundo routine vibe, which was alarming.

The only recent activity she observed was a barely perceptible change in Szayelaporro's behaviour. It was so insignificant that she wondered if she was not overinterpreting things, or whether it was only her imagination. Indeed, many human standards did not apply to the hollows, however, based on her experience with men, she noticed that Espada - beyond providing his impersonal entertainment in bed - was trying to seduce her. She was not quite sure how to react. The most convenient way would be to ignore him or convince him to look for fun somewhere else, but neither option was easy to implement.

First of all, she was not sure what his real intentions were. There was always a possibility of misrepresentation. The signals she took into account could be, in fact, devoid of any significance. The more relevant was, however, that these advances were not unpleasant. Most of the time they spent just on talking. They were discussing different topics like politics, philosophy, history of wars and tactical solutions used in historical battles, with which they were both familiar. Although they didn't always agree with each other, it was not that difficult for them to finally reach a consensus of opinions. These discussions were also so intellectually stimulating, that she didn't mind if her interlocutor was questioning her arguments.

"I've been wondering several times..." This introduction was unusual, because it was quite rare that the Espada ever went back to his abandoned ideas. "What made you to do your current job in the human world? The company you work for overpays you for doing simple, repetitive tasks without giving you any opportunities for further development. Other offers may not be so financially favorable, but by not considering them, you reject a prospect to prove yourself in another field."

"Well, you know, even geniuses have to pay the bills, buy food, have something trendy to wear and so on" she said cheerfully. "And I have quite an expensive taste."

It was rather an odd question, given the circumstances, on the other hand, it was kind of flattering. Her answer was sincere, but only to a certain extent. Sara was not working only because of the money, although the compensation never used to be completely irrelevant for her.

Szayelaporro repeatedly asked for her opinion on various issues, listened attentively and proved it later when making references to what she said. In addition, those questions in respect of her private life suggested a genuine interest in Sara Morgenstern as a person, not necessarily as a test subject. This could be his way of dealing with boredom as well. Either way, it suggested that her fate might be less tragic than in case of the other people imprisoned in Las Noches.

However, to make guessing his intentions even more difficult, after this brief interlude, he moved to a completely different topic.

"I'd rather not speculate what was on your mind, when you dug up this junk from the garbage. I dumped it a long time ago, for a valid reason" he commented, glancing sharply at the machinery lying on the countertop. "Collecting scrap has never been popular in Las Noches."

"It's not junk" she corrected him with amusement. "By the way, how can you call your creations scrap? These devices are operational, they only need to be a little more pampered. A nice touch can work wonders."

As if to confirm her words, she picked up a ball made of opaque material, resembling milk glass, encased in a metal frame. After pressing one button on the device, metal glowed red.

"Now I remember what it was supposed to be" he said casually. "Those were mobile headlights, giving a variety of visual effects, inter alia, to deceive the enemy, but serving also as signposts for fraccion. I abandoned it because of the very limited use. You're wasting time and..." he paused, giving her a seductive look "better to save your touch for me."

At this point, Sara couldn't hold back anymore and laughed. Since she was in high spirits, she didn't took this rather unsophisticated innuendo personally and treated it as a bland joke. Szayelaporro most probably expected a quite different reaction, because he looked surprised. His eyes were not bulging, he didn't frown or made another over the top expression. This could mean he was not pretending how he felt, but showed it. A glint of curiosity in his eyes could tell his assistant more than ridiculously overdramatic acting.

"For the first time I could hear the laughter of someone else than myself here" he continued after a moment of silence. "It's amazing."

Sara thought that it wouldn't be so unique if he offered any reasons for glee in his lab, but didn't say it aloud.

"Today I have a break from self-loathing" she replied instead. "I shouldn't frown all the time, because otherwise I'd look like a bulldog."

"Who knows, maybe a bulldog is your true form?" he said softly in a sing-song tone "Have you ever thought what you'd transform into as an arrancar? How would your mask or stigma look like? And where would your hollow hole be located?"

Her good mood became history within an instant.

"No" she refused strongly. "Never. I prefer to be one of your lab rats than a hollow!"

"Have you heard what you've just said? You called my test subjects 'lab rats'. You're already an Espada!"

"Of course. One hundred percent agreement here. The Espada 8A or 8' or 8.1. I just need to introduce myself and whoever will be my opponent, they'll die laughing."

"As you've already thought over such nuances, it means such possibility came to your mind."

"Nonsense" she snapped. "If you told this joke to hear my laughter again, I'm sorry, it failed. This is not funny."

"As for whom" he teased her. "As your wit has sharpened, mine should follow. We'll talk about it probably more than once... and in the meantime, can you show me the developments regarding energy optimization?"

"Sure" she nodded, surprised that he changed the subject so quickly and moved to another issue. " _Garganta_ is a very energy intensive project. You should strongly consider more efficient sources. Otherwise, the device would need to be supplied by a battery as large as a three-door closet."

"Excellent. Tell me about it..."

Hueco Mundo, the desert world inhabited by the hollows and arrancar, at first glance, seemed a more exotic equivalent of the Sahara, where life – in a way that humans understand it – didn't exist. After getting to know this world from the inside, Sara concluded this is a very complex political organism, keeping up with the political systems of developed countries. Aizen's power was admittedly far from democracy, but based on the various rumours and allusions, it was not absolute and unquestioned.

There was a whole bunch of unhappy arrancar who didn't took well that a shinigami is their king. They were masters of disguise and hardly ever raised their voices of opposition. For Sara, however, it was more important that they existed at all. She took a note of it, as well as of some phrases mindlessly repeated by the Octava Fraccion. Usually their talk was pretty much gibberish, but once in a while they managed to pick up some food for thought. The arrancar under Szayelaporro's command behaved similarly to parrots. After they heard a word and liked it, they were chirping it all day. Lumina and Verona didn't pay much attention whether they were talking about somebody killed in combat or cursing others, but the other two hollows, who often were in touch with Sara, had a talent for passing on information regarding, for example, Aizen or his adjuncts. Tall and skinny Vil, who escorted her at the very beginning, told her, among other things, that 'Shinigami Lord didn't approve' or 'important meeting went awry.' A slightly shorter, but bulkier, almost crammed with muscles Escarabrejo, was focused on news from the battlefield. His messages told her, inter alia, that 'Grimmjow ignored orders again' or 'Tesla had strange marks on his hands as he took off his gloves.'

She presumed the Octava Fraccion never left the laboratory on their own. However, together with their master, they were - among other things - watching recordings from surveillance cameras. Those tapes and probably the Espada's comments had to be the source of all these revelations.

As far as she could figure it out, Szayelaporro Granz didn't identify himself with any political faction, and she could even venture to say that he didn't care who the king was. He supported Aizen, because he allowed the Espada to carry out research activities in a way the arrancar considered appropriate and often provided him with the material for experiments. The scientist wasn't so eager to participate in making key decisions and avoided confrontations with the king. Szayelaporro probably felt the most secure in the laboratory, whose walls were filled with traps shielding him from any harm.

Such approach guaranteed her no involvement in the local politics, which was definitely safer than forcing their way to the throne. On the other hand, she was disappointed how passive the arrancar was. After all, he didn't get to the rank of an Espada in order to sit tight, but to act.

 _For him, action means to dissect everything and see how it works,_ she thought. _Despite this, I don't get how such a smart guy can be totally indifferent to everything around him. Even if you send the Octava Fraccion to spy, it's no substitute for your own, objective judgment._

Therefore, she was quietly consolidating everything she could find about Las Noches and analyzing these information. She was speculating over various ideas. She created plans, even temporary, fragile as a house of cards. Never forgot about the human world. About her little diversion.

At the same time, she tried not to ignore Szayelaporro's orders, or at least maintain the pretense that she was working under his direction. In accordance with his request, she got involved in the project _Garganta_ , but soon realized that she couldn't break free only by carrying out the tasks, and the arrancar would not let her go just because he was so impressed with the support she provided. For this reason, she tried to explore further to identify anything that might pay off in the future. She was not researching anything specific. However, during the study of the black holes she briefly touched another promising topic, whose analysis had to be postponed due to lack of time.

Brain waves.

The idea sounded fascinating, and if one transformed it into a definite, practical application, it would be the true discovery of the century. Exercising control by voice was nowhere near as intriguing as the ability to operate any device solely by one's thoughts. A possibility to issue complex commands within a fraction of a second sounded amazing, though a little scary. There was also one important question: what would happen with the current means of communication?

 _If we had such tool at our disposal, would that replace people talking to each other? Would speech and voice gradually disappear, too? And what about human connections? Would they be gone as well?_

On the other hand, many people were not able to communicate effectively, and a lot of her kind made various mistakes, there were also language and cultural barriers... In a sense, telepathy seemed to solve these problems and seemed simple enough for everyone to master it. It was enough to 'transmit' the final, expected result and let the other party take the appropriate action.

 _Okay, but how to do it? When my thoughts will become so powerful that other people will be able to somehow hear or see them?_

Sara tried to calm down and focus on specific effects, and chose the laboratory machinery as the objects of her exercises. After several unsuccessful attempts, she gave up and got back to one of her secondary projects, or, in this case, the probes. Even the preliminary analysis indicated room for additional features of these devices. It was kind of obvious that Szayelaporro wouldn't disclose his top secret project to her, and actually this factor brought her on the right trail. Sara guessed she would need to program the probes appropriately and conduct the testing to see if her reasoning was correct.

Her work was well in progress in no time.

Mapping the local algorithms didn't cause so many difficulties knowing the key, and the workspace provided a lot of comparative material. One might complain that she just copied and pasted somebody else's solutions, but without a proper guide she wouldn't have a chance to learn even the basics of programming languages and data communication protocols in Hueco Mundo, and certainly wouldn't have enough time for accomplishing that.

One moment Sara interrupted her work and was staring at the point directly in front of her. She wanted to see a chaise lounge or other convenient piece of furniture to sit on there. She didn't move for a while and the only action she took was looking in one specific direction.

She even stopped her breath.

And then it happened.

A fantasy that someday communication will be replaced by telepathy would surely be nothing more but a fleeting dream. This kind of technology was not designed for humans and Sara experienced the confirmation in a particularly brutal way.

The space, which a second ago was empty, now hosted a wide seat upholstered in light gray leather. The feeling of triumph that came over her was quickly superseded by headache, at first nothing more than an annoyance, like someone gently knocking inside her skull. But with every passing second, it got stronger and not allowing itself to ignore. Her eyes were wide open, eyelids were still, and her heart was beating so fast, it could explode every moment.

She opened her mouth in a silent scream. She felt totally paralyzed, unable to control her body.

Using her last ounce of strength during a flash of consciousness, she took two steps forward and sat down in the chair, leaning her head back. Tears were running on her cheeks as she tried to survive the attack of pain. It felt like a ride on an extreme rollercoaster. One second she was cold and had goose bumps all over her body, and a moment later, fierce heat was striking her mercilessly. At one point, she was dying of hunger and thirst, just to be sick from the upcoming nausea another second. She was seriously terrified when her respiratory system seemed to be frozen as well, but it occurred to be a turning point.

In a few minutes, which seemed to her like an eternity, things started to calm down. When the numbness passed and she rubbed her stiff shoulders, her pulse was still pounding in her temples. Her first deliberate thought was about the Espada seeing this short demonstration.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter XVI

In one of the consecutive days, the atmosphere in the laboratory became tense and even oppressive. Unrest and sorrow filled the air, bringing disturbance and helplessness to shake those feelings. Uneasiness was like a vortex absorbing everything within its range. It seemed that all appliances, walls and hallways were energized by the electric current of great power, unleashed upon the slightest touch.

These impressions proved to be somewhat logical when Sara got to know the reason behind them.

An urgent meeting requested by Aizen.

Sara was aware that the king of Hueco Mundo organized regular meetings of Las Espadas, probably on the current issues and priorities. That was to say, she could not expect any different agenda because Aizen didn't seem to be among those wasting time on idle chat. However, Lumina and Verona, or actually their last mention of the 'piss-flavoured tea' raised some doubt.

Whatever the case was, the conclusion was clear: if there was ongoing communication between Las Espadas and their king, it could mean that every extraordinary meeting, taking place outside the usual schedule, had to address the most urgent issues, which couldn't wait. It must have been something incredibly important, not allowing Aizen to move along with the other matters without prior discussion with his subordinates.

As a consequence, even Szayelaporro – being an Espada – was worried and experienced it in his own way, making his irritation and melancholia unknowingly spreading all over the laboratory. At first, Sara was impatiently waiting when this crisis was over, and the arrancar would close a phase of his extremely low spirits, but later changed her mind. The human found out that she was expected to appear in the palace together with the scientist.

"If it's a joke, it's in very poor taste."

He pursed his lips, as if she had offended him.

"This is not a joke" he snapped. "Lord Aizen does not tolerate unpunctuality, so the sooner you are ready, woman, the better for you."

Recognizing that complaints would not achieve anything, Sara obediently followed the Espada as they were passing through tunnels and corridors in Aizen's headquarters. White walls seemed to go on forever, it was not hard to guess, however, that due to safety reasons, they were taking a circuitous route.

When they met three arrancar on one of the crossroads, Sara assumed the destination is not that far away. Two of their new companions lined up in front and rear, as vanguard and rearward. The third one was Yylfordt Granz, who smiled encouragingly to his brother and his assistant, and then made an obscene joke. Szayelaporro responded with a look full of disapproval, which shut the blond's mouth more effectively than any reprimand.

Two turns later, they arrived at the destination. Huge, double gates, carved out of dark gray stone stood open. Little could be seen in the space between them, except that inside it was darker than in the hallway.

But it was not the right time to admire the architecture and lighting effects.

Szayelaporro went inside, but when Sara wanted to follow him, one of the guards blocked her way.

"Only the Octava Espada" he grumbled with animosity. "No one else is allowed to enter."

Sara withdrew obediently, although Yylfordt appeared just next to her, ready for battle. She didn't know whether he was trying to clear the passage for himself, or for the both of them. Possibly, he could be concerned that a human would be attacked.

 _I don't expect that Szayelaporro is sentimental. I wouldn't die from a few bruises, would I?_

Meanwhile, the conversation with the boss began.

"I don't have time for the obligatory small talk" Aizen said in a calm, pleasant voice. If not for his betrayal, no one would have guessed this man concealed his sinister self under warm and kind demeanour. "I called you, Szayelaporro, because I have been given disturbing information about a human residing in your laboratory. I have not received any report on the subject, except for two vague mentions. All your laboratory specimens are usually described very accurately, so someone more sensitive could speculate that you are hiding something from me. And I believe this is not the case, am I right?"

The Espada took a deep bow.

"Of course, sir. To prove you that my intentions don't involve any subtext, I brought Sara Morgenstern here as a special guest."

"Your foresight is admirable" said the fallen shinigami, his voice dripping with venom. "But first, allow me to..."

Anything that was said later could not be heard, because the gate was closed, and Sara remained outside. Two masked guards, dressed in white, oversize coats firmly forbade her to approach any further, which she accepted. Yylfordt stayed with her, apparently having a good time, strolling leisurely.

He was clearly disappointed they couldn't hear anything behind solid doors, and their escort ordered them to keep a safe distance, which prevented any eavesdropping. Granz Senior yawned ostentatiously, marching around with his hands in the pockets. Sara thought if he tried to get the other two into fight, but after a while she concluded that Yylfordt's approach was not so illogical and not necessarily hostile. First of all, there was no regular waiting room, so everyone queuing for their audience had to stand. It was not particularly comfortable, therefore, to relieve herself, she also started to walk around, taking discreet glances from side to side, and trying to determine what kind of facilities – except for the throne room – could be located here.

Yylfordt must have been terribly bored, because he approached her to talk.

"Esto no debe tomar mucho tiempo" he said politely and added reluctantly: "No me gusta esperar."

"Es importante" she replied stiffly. "Deja que el tema discuten en detalles."

He looked genuinely impressed.

"Su español es muy bueno, hermana" he praised her. "Es mejor de lo que Szayel piensa."

"Su hermano establece altos estándares. No me sorprende que..."

She didn't finish her last sentence, because the guards suddenly stood at attention, which was a warning in itself. It could mean only one thing and a confirmation came when the huge door was opened, and Sara was invited inside. She smiled apologetically at Yylfordt and entered the meeting with Aizen. She could not afford to make the king of the Hueco Mundo wait for a prisoner.

The throne room was quite disappointing in comparison with her expectations, on the other hand, it was depressing enough to shatter the confidence of those who wished to have a successful meeting with the king. The hall resembled an interior of a tower with a sky-high ceiling and black matte floor, striking as a boundless abyss, like a bottomless pit with no support for feet.

The wall behind the throne, directly in the line of her sight, made the most eerie impression. It was either transparent, or there was none at all. Behind it, Sara saw the sky so dark that even the clouds looming on the horizon seemed to emit light.

She blinked. The image didn't disappear.

 _I can't forget that Aizen is the master of hypnosis. Perhaps it's just my imagination..._

She shifted her attention to the shinigami, whom she hadn't met in person before, but had heard of him. Judging by the havoc his betrayal caused, he must have had a very good disguise. No one would suspect... His subordinates put absolute trust in him... He was a role model for them... And, at the same time, he did not hesitate to get rid of them when they served their purpose.

 _No_ , Sara gave herself a mental slap. _This is not the proper time and place for summoning ghosts from the past._

He was sitting on a throne made of dark gray stone. The seat looked terribly uncomfortable, moreover, it was set on a sort of a dais with about ten steps in front of it. Szayelaporro was kneeling at the bottom, but hearing Sara's footsteps, he got up.

Aizen himself was an attractive man, and judging by his appearance, he could be also described as kind. His brown hair were swept back, revealing a handsome face with Asian features. One wavy strand was playfully hanging down his forehead, bringing the attention to his dark, menacing eyes. The aura surrounding him was both frightening and encouraging.

Sara approached closer and greeted Aizen by slightly bowing her head, hoping that no one expected her falling on her knees before him. She didn't say a word, making sure not to speak up too early or at least until she made her initial observations. She didn't manage to take any lessons from Szayelaporro on how to communicate with his boss, but there was no point in crying over spilled milk. She would have to improvise carefully.

"What do you think about life in Las Noches, Morgenstern-san?"

Sara could expect everything, nevertheless, this kind of question fitted more for a tea break during a conference than an official meeting requested by the big boss himself. After all, a moment before Aizen seriously reprimanded one of his most valued subordinates. Why would he go for a nice chat now?

It was not a question then. It was a test.

"I could mention a lot of things, but certainly one can't complain on boredom. It's a kind of a journey back in time" she said, still staring at him and observing his reactions. "A return to the primal society. It's a challenge for me, but I think I'm doing decent job."

"I haven't asked that question without a reason."

 _No shit, Sherlock._

When Aizen confirmed her suspicions, Sara recorded in her mind that he spoke English as fluently as Spanish, when he was talking with the Octava Espada before.

"Due to the fact that Tres Espada, Tier Halibel accepts only women as her fraccion, I was considering relocating you to her squad."

"I'm not a fighter, nor a healer, sir."

"Your profile seemed promising and I thought that would be a huge disadvantage to leave you in the laboratory" he continued as though he didn't hear her last comment. "But if you say that the current allocation seems interesting to you, consider it only as a suggestion. We may get back to it in due time. Szayelaporro also put forward a proposal that you'll return to the human world and after assuming the leadership of your kind, you'll help us with the invasion..." he made a short pause "which I do not approve."

Sara praised herself for self-control and for the fact that she didn't have a tendency to fall into hysteria during moments of shock. Otherwise, it would have been a catastrophe. She was uncertain whether quicker heartbeat was the effect of hearing a firm rejection of her return home, or rather being appointed the queen of humans, who would be fortunate - or, depending on the point of view, unlucky - to survive the invasion of hollows.

"You've learned too much about Las Noches and how we function. Although you may not realize it, you are in possession of confidential information, which the Soul Society can easily access once you come back to the human world. I know that you've been working and probably are still working for the shinigami. Gathering intel on your current location won't be difficult, similarly as obtaining your testimony."

She was silent, but her mind was racing at the speed of light, and given a chance, she would present Aizen at least a few arguments contrary to his opinion. But it would be totally classless to interrupt the king of Hueco Mundo during his tirade.

"The shinigami are unforgivable bureaucrats, who in pursuit of the goal would not hesitate to do everything they see suitable. As soon as the defenders of humanity" he let his voice play with subtle irony "realize that you are hiding important information, they will find a way to steer your actions to their own ends. I can testify of that because not so long ago I was one of them. Therefore, do not promise me that you'll keep private everything you've learnt, because you will break the said promise within a few minutes after you return home."

He gave her a smile that was supposed to be reassuring, but in this situation was nothing more than a cynical grimace.

"At the same time... I advise you not to go back now for the sake of your safety. The leadership of the Soul Society certainly wouldn't miss a thing as subtle as your cooperation with the Octava Espada. On the basis of the coverage that I have seen, they'll consider you a traitor and, without any doubt, get you executed."

He clearly marked the last full stop and was waiting for her reply.

"The shinigami don't kill humans" she said in a firm, clear voice. "In addition, the Soul Society can't use their full power in the human world. They have no right to capture or torture me, and I have no obligation to share with them any of the details of my stay in Las Noches. I might sell them false information. I'm not afraid for my safety in my home world, because I know it well enough to find a proper way to defend myself. However, the tasks to be performed are waiting for me not only at home, but in Las Noches as well, therefore, I shall accept any decision made in this regard."

Aizen frowned slightly, but his expression was hard to figure out whether Sara's speech made him appreciative.

"There will be no change in the current status. Any further assignment shall be determined by your skills and your willingness to fulfil a certain role" he concluded. "That is all. Consider yourselves dismissed."

When they both came out of the audience room, Szayelaporro dismissed Yylfordt under some false pretences and hurried Sara to swiftly return to the laboratory, rather than to look around the base and admire its architecture. They were marching at a very quick pace, almost ran, although on the surface arrancar was cool, calm and collected. It was a good method of fooling everyone around, so no one would assume that he was running away from his boss's HQ.

Sara, as a resident of a big city, mastered a fast walk and running in even the most uncomfortable shoes. This used to help her a lot to catch buses, trams, subway and trains. This time, however, she could barely keep up with him.

"Why the sudden rush?" she verbalised his doubts "We don't need to hurry, after all, the Octava Fraccion won't die of hunger-"

He didn't let her finish, stopping abruptly, pulling her closer and gently kissing her neck.

"There are cameras here" he hissed into her ear in a barely audible whisper. "We'll talk later."

Sara experienced a gut feeling that they should continue the show how well they get on with each other. She wrapped her arms around him, threading her fingers through his hair. She stood on the tips of her toes and since he slightly bent, she had his face very near. She briefly touched his lips, when the Espada offered her a cold stare and a shake of his head.

"Let's go" he ordered. She obeyed and backed away. "We don't have time for this sort of thing."

Without additional questions, she quickened her pace and headed after him, believing that the scientist knows this place well enough not to lead her astray. She didn't say a word even when he opened a rift and asked her to come first as usual. Several times she wondered whether he used to do it out of courtesy, or wanted to fuel the additional load of fear.

Once in the laboratory, no one had to explain Sara it was too early to sigh of relief. Without delay or any bitter comments - unnecessary in this situation, although making his signature style - he invited her to the living room and went to the wall filled with electronics. His first action was to touch the screen. As it turned out, it was not only the display for presentations, but the device was connected to the laboratory surveillance network. Using the remote control, the Espada was switching from the footage transmitted by cameras in the great hall – the one where Sara practiced dancing - into the desert, showing the landscape under a variety of angles. Peering over his shoulder, she did not notice anything alarming, but apparently she had missed something because the arrancar commented:

"It seems we have an execution brigade after us. Actually, after you, because they have no business in finding me. Although, since they broke into my laboratory, I feel obliged to give them a very special welcome."

He turned his face towards her, smiling with just the corners of his mouth.

"Do you know who Los Exequias are?"

She nodded.

"In a nutshell, it's an execution brigade in the Arrancar Army usually sent to 'cleaning' after the battles, as well as the first line of neutralizing intruders and traitors."

"That's right. Could it be that Aizen started to fall into paranoia? Has he concluded that you were not prepared enough for the meeting? Has he intended to impose punishment on you for addressing him too casually? Perhaps the meeting was a way to lure you out from a safe place with the intention of interception, which ended in a fiasco? And the Exequias were ordered to return for the thing he 'lost'?"

If it weren't for Szayelaporro staring at her intensely, Sara couldn't guess these questions are addressed to her. She was under impression the Espada was thinking aloud, jumping from one hypothesis to another. In her opinion, none of them made much sense but when he finally finished his ramblings, she felt he was waiting for her comments.

"I wouldn't include myself into any of categories of subjects sought by the Exequias, nor am I someone Aizen would consider a threat. I'd rather say they showed up to clean up, for example, the side effects of your experiments."

"Rudbornn wouldn't find here even a square centimetre of dust to clean. And should he intended to be hired for an ordinary job, he certainly wouldn't lurk in the desert like an amateurish spy. Therefore, I'll disappoint you, my dear. Clearly he and his squad are looking for something in the laboratory, so there is no other possibility. They wouldn't have bothered to come this far to track anything other than you."

"But why? Why Aizen would suddenly get interested in one human among the masses imprisoned in Las Noches over so many years? Your suggestions don't fit his character. Is there any other option?"

"I don't know, I'm not him" he snorted impatiently. "Certainly he hasn't sent them here on holiday. Either way, any propaganda should wait until we're done with engaging Rudbornn's squad. We are going to have plenty of time to discuss our assumptions later. Now let's hold a tactical meeting."

He turned towards the shiny wall perpendicular to the screen. As Sara correctly figured out, it was a whiteboard, but unlike those from the human world, in order to write on it, it didn't need markers or old-fashioned chalk, but... imagination.

Szayelaporro was moving his finger over the board and drawing rectangular and square shapes, linked together with some straight lines. His hand was not touching the board, but moving in the air instead. None of his movements imitated the figures, which appeared on the chart, as if this device was equipped with artificial intelligence and was programmed to correct its user's careless scribbles. The board must have guessed what was on the Espada's mind and conjured a set of squares and rectangles connected by lines and arcs.

"Let's say it's their perimeter" he explained while drawing. "Here" he pointed to the largest square "is the air-lock, their way to penetrate my defences."

"Are you sure that Exequias won't get into the lab using any other entrance? Since they are in hiding, they may want to surprise us and jump out of an obscure corner, shrouded in cobwebs-"

"I'll put it this way: countless beings tried to break through my security. No one succeeded. Rudbornn is not the smartest of arrancar, but he is intelligent enough not to try an Espada's patience. If in fact he's here because of you, he'll aim to take the easiest and quickest route, grab you away as soon as possible and retreat. To which, of course, I'm not going to let him" he said firmly. "Low-ranked arrancars should know their place, even when they carry out Lord Aizen's orders."

"I'm going with you!" she declared boldly

"Don't be ridiculous" he said condescendingly, as if she were a small child. "Exequias are no match for me, but they are many of them and the risk that you'll get hit by a stray bullet is considerable. I appreciate that you worry about me-"

"Exequias might be a diversion" she interrupted him sharply. "Aizen could have sent them to keep you occupied, while the second, more powerful group arrives in the lab and burns to ashes everything in front of them. Therefore, it'll be more sensible if we don't split forces."

"True" he applauded her unexpectedly seriously. "I'm thinking about another alternative. This is a test or, actually, a trial. Yes, this is the dress rehearsal of the performance, which Aizen wants to see with his own eyes."

"What are you on about?"

"He had to think of this idea before he called me for the meeting" it seemed like he was talking to himself, his eyes fixed on an indefinite point in the distance. "Apparently Aizen prepared himself for this meeting thoroughly by examining her past. This may indicate that the rejection of my request for establishment of a governor over the human world was kind of coquetry..."

Sara was watching the Espada with growing confusion. Just a minute ago they were able to hold a meaningful conversation about tactics, and in a mere second a dramatic change occurred. From a logical scientist, he became a lunatic murmuring to himself.

"Now I understand what is going to happen" he continued in a kind of intoxication. "This is a great opportunity for the future. But a lot depends on you, on your understanding of the role and how accurately you'll be able to reproduce what I wrote in the script. Otherwise, your work will never be completed" he grimaced, as if bitten a grain of pepper and returned to his previous incarnation. "Well, mine might not, either, when I'm called to another urgent meeting with Aizen. What do you think? Will you cooperate? Or you'd prefer to stay in your quarters, perhaps?"

 _And will someone like you be able to protect me?_

"Of course I will" she replied immediately, adding after a while: "I hope you won't you suggest anything... improper."

He ignored her last remark.

"Amusing... No later than an hour ago you were desperate to put everything at stake just to escape. Now, when you finally are given a chance, you do exactly the opposite than you set for yourself at the beginning."

"I'm surely going to regret what I'm saying now. But here, in the lab, I feel a hundred times safer than in the company of your boss. So, are you going to share your plan with me or should I improvise?"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter XVII

The perfect timing to greet the uninvited guests was when the intruders broke into the air-lock.

"Rudbornn Chelute" Szayelaporro said aloud, as he and Sara emerged from the wall, much to astonishment of the Exequias surrounding them. "What brings you to my humble home? I don't recall that I requested your services."

The leader of the enforcer unit bowed before the Espada.

"I am here at Lord Aizen's behest. You should not be concerned, sir, because this case does not involve you. Lord Aizen is interested only in this human bitch, who is detained here and who had an audience with our king today."

The conversation was held in Spanish, but with more than basic knowledge Sara was able to understand a lot. The context and intonation helped her to grasp the meaning of each statement. Without any doubt she recognized an insult addressed at her and blushed a little.

"Watch your mouth, executioner," warned the scientist. "It's not sensible to insult our new ally."

"Ally!" Snorted the lower-ranking arrancar. "I beg your pardon, sir, but Hueco Mundo will never accept humans as allies."

"Is this your or Lord Aizen's opinion? Well, it doesn't matter anyway. You still haven't answered my question, what exactly you are doing here. Perhaps you forgot how to speak or got mad with boredom, looking for entertainment in my lab? If you insist, I may hire you for a job, which will be much more useful than your pathetic attempts at eloquence."

Rudbornn's face was completely obscured by a mask, but if it wasn't, Sara could have seen sheer fury. The woman was starting to have a great time. Szayelaporro showed remarkable talent in insulting his opponents by being seemingly polite. She was sure he could easily irritate the other party just by introducing himself.

"Lord Aizen," the aggressor said in a kind of drawl "commands the Exequias to bring him one of the Octava Espada's test subjects, identified as Sara Morgenstern, human Caucasian female."

"Much better," he turned to Sara, still speaking Spanish, but more slowly and clearly than usual, as if she was deaf: "Sara, the Exequias want to take you to Lord Aizen. Would you like to meet him once more?"

She simply shook her head, agreeing with Szayelaporro's idea not to reveal how fluent Spanish she learned so far.

"Oh, it won't be easy" he commented. "The lady doesn't want to go with you."

"Even an Espada has no right to question Lord Aizen's orders," Rudbornn replied coldly, his rage lingering like fire beneath the ice. "Resist and we'll retaliate."

"I'm not going to oppose the orders. If you ask me, you can do your job. I won't disturb you, but..." his tone became sharper "I can't speak on behalf of señorita Morgenstern."

As if to confirm these words, he made several steps back, standing next to the exit. At this point, Sara's entrée and her role were about to commence. When the main actor of this monodrama rested behind the curtain, his substitute took the centre stage. Instead of thunderous applause, encouraging her to host the best show ever, she heard blades clanging. All Exequias unsheathed their swords within a second.

"Comprenda, mujer!" shouted their leader

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

 _What a lack of subtlety_ , she thought critically. _Are_ _they going to chop me to pieces if I refuse?_

"A little more politely, gentlemen" she said aloud, speaking deliberately slowly, to gain a few dozen extra seconds to assess the situation. "To be honest, you are not particularly convincing. I've just had a meeting with Lord Aizen and, in my opinion, I don't need to bother the king of Hueco Mundo again within such a short period of time. Therefore, I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me what the reason for your intrusion is."

As she expected, the arrancar didn't reply to her request, but pushed forward to attack. In contrary, Sara did exactly what she declared. With an oddly straight face she stood completely still, and the only move she made was a loud clap of her hands. Upon this invitation, the Octava Fraccion emerged from the floor and the walls. Some of them even fell from the ceiling and landed neatly on the floor like cats, despite their weight and different body proportions. They lined up in a defensive formation, forming a kind of wall around Sara.

The Exequias were flabbergasted. Their leader motioned them to stop, but none of them dropped their weapons. This stalemate, when none of the enemies could decide to take action, didn't last long. Rudbornn's body language giving away his impatience and aggression, similar to a wild animal, poised everyone else to strike.

Meanwhile, Sara assessed the chance for her success and was calculating her moves. When she decided it was the time, she raised her right hand and pointed straight at the Exequias.

"Inmediatamente," she ordered.

The Octava Fraccion moved forward to attack. None of the artificially created hollows carried a zanpakuto, but their powerful kicks, blows of their strong fists as well as bites of razor-sharp teeth compensated for the lack of other weapons. In addition, their attack was a huge surprise, because Rudbornn's team didn't expect that any arrancar would rush to help a human. It took the Exequias some time to regroup and retaliate.

The bloodshed started.

Rudbornn backed away, using his sword as a shield from the numerous blows, landing on him as quickly as a flash of light. He was not too expressive arrancar and fought in silence, but his attempts to overcome astonishment and take control over the situation were evident.

His eyes darted from face to face, eventually devoting some attention to Sara. He almost spat in disgust, looking at her white uniform, designed very similarly as the ones that Aizen introduced in Hueco Mundo. They were the antithesis of black clothing worn by the shinigami and something distinguishing the arrancar from their hated enemy, and from the ordinary crowd. The proud and arrogant hollow couldn't agree with making a common human equal with the Arrancar Army.

Dodging between the Octava Fraccion, avoiding being trampled underfoot, Rudbornn rushed forward to continue negotiations with the Octava Espada. Szayelaporro was seen by the executioner as the only person who could stop this completely unnecessary massacre.

"Lord Szayelaporro!" he yelled "Can you see what she has done?"

"Of course I can. The fact that I wear glasses doesn't mean I'm blind."

"We can't allow this madness among our own ranks! Whose doing it is? Probably not yours, sir?"

"What's so strange about such fight? Even though I'm spending the vast majority of my time in the laboratory, I'm aware that cannibalism among arrancars is not something rare. And no, it's not mine, as you put it, 'doing' Rudbornn. Here," he pointed to Sara "is your contact person."

Leader of the Exequias ignored her completely and walked even closer to the Espada.

"Have mercy! Stop your Fraccion!"

"Try to stop yours first, and then we'll talk" Szayelaporro snorted in reply. "You broke into my lab uninvited and attacked my assistant. If you're surprised that she's trying to defend herself, it means that you're dumber than I thought."

"But Lord Aizen's orders-"

"I know nothing about such orders," he interrupted impatiently. "Besides, who you think you are? You think that a simple arrancar knows more about Lord Aizen's plans than an Espada? That you can understand Lord Aizen's endeavours? That Lord Aizen would allow you to gain knowledge I can't access? Don't be absurd! Do you truly believe I fell for such a stupid trick? Anyone can rely on non-existent orders."

"I told the truth!"

"What a pity that Lord Aizen's not here to confirm your words."

The Espada turned around and nodded to Sara who approached him, looking at the two men suspiciously. Rudbornn was lost to her, because the duty he was so eagerly fulfilling didn't involve insulting her. She was not willing to forgive him, even if he begged her on his knees.

Which was not likely to happen.

On the other hand, Szayelaporro's actions were very unlike him, even taking into account his inclination for playacting. He defended her with such devotion, as if protecting an investment with an incredibly high return rate, not a human who - according to the hierarchy in Hueco Mundo - was less important than the local animals. She guessed that he was driven by the opportunity to annoy the Exequias and play a devious game with Aizen. It was not a valid reason, however, to stop the flow of insults. After fall, she wouldn't die or fall into depression from hearing someone reminding her why she was captured by the arrancars in the first place.

These insults were also showing that apparently Hueco Mundo was dominated by double standards in a similar manner as the human world.

"You may stop" said the scientist. "They've made enough mess already. Give them one more minute, and they'll start shitting their pants, and I don't want to clean after them."

Her clap and a stern command made the Octava Fraccion cease their attacks. They returned to their hiding places behind the walls.

"Happy now?" Szayelaporro turned to Rudbornn "You'd better get out of here and instead try dealing with something you can actually handle, which is delivering me the test material. I don't want any further delays in this respect."

Rudbornn had no other choice but to acknowledge defeat and flee after collecting his subordinates, who, incidentally, suffered quite badly during the fight. The arrancar were able to regenerate, so all broken bones, torn limbs or crushed ribs didn't mean total loss of effectiveness, yet at that time, their retreat looked really pathetic.

Sara was watching this parade with undisguised contempt, and in spite of claiming victory, she felt gloomy. She was not exactly happy getting involved in this drama, during which once again she was called worthless junk, useful only to entertain one of the local officers. Until she staged this show, demonstrating her strength, none of the arrancars bothered to explain what was actually going on.

How dramatic it was, from beginning to end. Set design, staging, applause, fanfare, until the curtain fell.

At the encore, when Rudbornn was shamefully retreating, cursing her during each step, Szayelaporro decided to include a scene, which was not in the initial script. As Sara was standing just next to him, he grabbed her hand, pulled her toward him and kissed her.

Because she understood it was the part of the game, she didn't push him or jerk away, even though she wanted to kick him straight in the hollow hole. Instead, she closed her eyes and tried to think of something else.

When the audience was gone, they immediately broke away. Sara was relieved, gasping for breath. She still felt bitter taste on her lips.

"Was that an entrance exam for a new Espada?" she asked with a frown "Did I pass?"

Szayelaporro walked towards the wall. His fingers seemed to be dancing in the air when he activated a spiritual panel and input command on the barely visible luminous surface. He nodded at Sara, who in response gave him a critical look. She didn't like him breaking the rules they agreed not so long ago and ignoring her. Above all, she could not stand playing second fiddle. Especially when he was deliberately annoying her, as he could activate the rift remotely, without using the panels.

"How was it?" she repeated her question

"According to me, acceptable. It shouldn't surprise you that Aizen wanted to test your skills" he said, as they were walking together. "Luckily for us, he chose a half-witted imbecile to perform the verification on his behalf. Hence, we could kill two birds with one stone: give Aizen an idea what you can do and entertain ourselves at the expense of others. That fool Rudbornn had no idea what he was getting into. He let himself be outmanoeuvred by such a simple trick!"

Dark corridor was not long, and a beam of light announced that the next door is not so far away. A moment later they were in the lab wing allocated to Szayelaporro's personal quarters. She immediately recognized the living room, where she had recently tried to negotiate the fate of humans subject to experiments. She noticed that the Espada had changed rug, which served her as a bedding during the previous visit. The round table hosted a teapot with fancifully elongated spout and a set of two cups, all of them made of fine bone china. One could see brownish fluid through the translucent porcelain.

Szayelaporro kindly invited Sara to continue the conversation over tea. Before he sat down opposite her, he filled two cups with steaming, aromatic infusion. Still full of mistrust, the woman reached for her cup only after the Espada drank. He smirked, taking a note of her precautions.

"While I could praise you for being the most vigilant of dogs, there is no reason for it. I've had ample opportunities to poison you earlier, so you don't need to be paranoid," he said, sounding amused. "Because I thought it would be inappropriate to drink alcohol during work, let's seal our alliance over a cup of tea."

"I've heard a word 'aliado' - meaning 'ally' - in your conversation with Rudbornn."

"You are getting better and better when it comes to speaking Spanish. Why don't we switch into this language soon?"

"My Spanish is far from perfect."

"That's why I think that conversations with a native speaker can help you."

She nodded, but decided to ask a question not connected with the current topic.

"Have you really recommended me to Aizen as a governor of the human world?"

"Is it so hard to believe? Don't get me wrong, it won't be an easy task. After our invasion, human population will be dramatically decimated, and those who'll be still alive, will need someone to provide them with accommodation, food, jobs, healthcare... When the desperate fight for survival against the hollow occupation starts in your world, you may anticipate it won't be an ideal place to live."

He smiled broadly.

"But you don't need to worry. I was watching you carefully, and I'm confident that you can handle such responsibility. Because of your role in Aizen's plans, I can guarantee you that nothing unpleasant will happen to your relatives and friends. I also hope," he added casually "that your partner won't mind my visits."

His request waved a red flag in her mind. Although she guessed what these visits could actually involve, she kept pretending to be completely unsuspicious and a little bit ignorant.

"My world is based on a completely different technology," she said in an unnaturally indifferent voice. "I doubt you'll find it interesting."

"I didn't mean the experiments."

She shuddered. This time, panic swallowed her whole.

 _I won't break away from him, even if I go back to my world. He won't leave me in peace. He'll track me down and will stalk me until someone kills him... or until I kill him._

"I like talking with you," he continued, amused watching her seemingly neutral expression, contrasting with an angry flash in her eyes. "Only a few of my guests were able to at least keep the conversation going. You seem to be always ahead of my thoughts, serving incredibly tasty dishes willingly offering themselves to be devoured."

He leaned slightly forward.

"Even now, when you pose as someone patiently listening to me, I can see the superhuman effort you utilize to restrain hatred and disgust. I know exactly what's going on in your head... You're an excellent actress, but several times you were over the top. You've overdone your passionate rendezvous after our conversation with Aizen... In comparison, our final scene with Rudbornn didn't work out at all, which made me a bit worried. Shall I go on?"

His icy tone woke up her worst instincts, similar to those driving the ancestors of homo sapiens, who had to kill each other to survive.

"How generously you omitted a session of screaming and fervent denial... Did I hit the nail on the head? Perhaps you're just letting me finish my thought. A sad thought, because I find unbearably sad your desire for freedom, hoping that someone would rush to help you, or you would find someone whom you can control to meet your ends. Certainly it's not me, and contrary to what you think, you don't have any power over me. I've already seen through all your manipulative tricks. And the man on whose help you count so much... how do you know if he hasn't seen the recordings with us? Or, if he hasn't visited my lab? Or" his bright eyes got clouded with darkness "if he wasn't one of the scraps from my experiments you've seen before?"

Sara stood up hastily, but didn't move, as if rooted to the floor by invisible wires. Her breath was very quick and shallow, and her eyes were flashing with fury that could be compared to a devastating volcanic eruption. Although she managed to appear calm and it didn't look like she was about to tear her interlocutor with her bare hands, one could see reddish spots on the exposed part of her neck and cleavage.

Suddenly she turned on her heel and walked over to one of the walls. Using her newly learned ability, she unveiled a panel and typed her destination on the virtual keyboard. After a moment, the rift was opened, revealing a dark corridor.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" shouted Szayelaporro, but she seemed not to hear him.

She broke through to the other side, at the same time cutting off his path, and infecting communication channels in the laboratory with an interfering application. She was running straight ahead, as quickly as if her life depended on it, which probably was true. When she was back in her quarters, the first thing she did, was to activate the blockades on spiritual rifts as well as on the elevator.

Then, she reached into the cupboard for a sizable jar and scattered part of its contents around the shaft. White powder formed an easily recognizable oval on the black tiles, creating a kind of a border line.

The next step was to launch probes and set them in strategic locations, so that the system was ready to drop the hammer. The largest device was put just behind the white powder circle. Then, she could only be waiting for the inevitable, knowing that her time for preparation was basically gone.

She calmed her quick, shallow breath. Her heartbeat was gradually slowing as well. Adrenaline, however, continued to work, which was a positive signal. Sara was sure she would need its support in a challenge to come. She wouldn't bet on herself too much, but she had to try, and the right motivation could shift the balance in her favour.

She looked at the white ceiling and blinked to stop the tears in her eyes.

If Ernest was dead... and before dying saw 'indisputable' evidence of her being unfaithful, she had nothing to lose. Whatever the Espada prepared for her, nothing would be worse. What could be her possible gain? Szayelaporro would admit that he was lying - and it would not be the first time he didn't tell the truth - and she could finally crush his overwhelming arrogance.

 _I can't keep quiet. It's too important to me... Because most likely he is right and I could not come up with any arguments, I have to answer by action. Our confrontation was a matter of time... maybe later I'd be better prepared, but even now I have a few tricks up my sleeve. If I don't prove myself now, when I'll get a second chance?_

The first signs that her quickly improvised campaign was beginning to unfold were alerts generated by the technology. The messages indicated that somebody outside was collecting immense amount of energy to break through it by force. Automated warning system kept producing annoying squeaks, Sara, however, did not take any action, observing the percentage of overloaded barriers. Her eyes once again rested on the elevator shaft, considered as the weakest link in her defence net. But there was always the likelihood of a mistake in calculations and the attack might be carried out from a different direction.

Suddenly, the room seemed to quake, and after short pulsing, the elevator door revealed the expected, albeit unwelcome guest being Szayelaporro. He stood perfectly straight, with hands folded on his back and an unreadable expression on his face. He bowed mockingly looking in Sara's direction.

"Congratulations" he said, smiling sarcastically. "I really wish that I didn't have to destroy these quite well-thought barriers, because the prototype looked promising. You were very close to not letting me in here... Which components did you use to form them?"

She was determined to start a fight with him, and not to talk. The Espada interpreted her silence his way.

"If you share with me your secret, I'll take this into account and I'll bring you painless death when the time is due."

These words brought her back on the right track. She realized that in contrast to the other Espadas, Szayelaporro didn't care about fighting her. Fight as such didn't have any added value for him, he even admitted it before. More important was to gain knowledge, information and to exchange them with someone as intelligent as the arrancar.

"I integrated the barriers with your genetic material" she was trying to sound calm, but it was impossible not to hear anger in her voice. "I programmed them for blocking access when your DNA is recognized."

"With my genetic material?" he repeated slowly "Ah yes... Now I understand how you could obtain samples. The source of DNA may be skin, hair, saliva, bodily fluids, correct? I was apparently too optimistic in assuming that my personal qualities were enough to attract you."

"I know I'm repeating myself," she sensed the opportunity for revenge "but dead guys with holes in their bodies are not exactly my type."

"It's time to put it to an end," he continued monologue as if he had not heard her last remark, reaching for his sword and slowly walking towards her. "Cease your resistance. Your body can still serve the science, so do your best to die with all your limbs intact."

His movements were unhurried, almost lazy, clearly expecting an ambush. Sara made a note of that in her mind. She held her breath for a moment, tracing him as he was getting closer and closer. When one of his feet crossed some kind of a flash point, a spherical probe, which seemed to keep guard at the white powder circle, started beeping warnings. In case of anyone expecting any additional confirmations, the device flared up with red, blinking lights.

Szayelaporro paused for a moment, staring at the probe with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. Meanwhile, Sara was not waiting any longer, but reached for the remote control on one of the countertops and pressed a button in the centre of the device. Levitating sphere lit up in light blue, and the aura appeared, enveloping it like a force field. The same field surrounded the elevator shaft, following the line of Sara's circle.

The Espada was amazed, but his shock was too dramatic to be genuine. He touched the force field, which was heterogeneous, consisting of fast-moving particles and quickly withdrew his hand when the energy burnt the fingertips of his glove. He frowned, looking critically at the singed cloth and slightly flushed skin.

He made another attempt with the zanpakuto. The blade pierced the blue sphere, smashing it into pieces. Shards of the field scattered around the Espada like broken glass. Those that landed on the tiles, were smouldering for a moment, and then disappeared, but the vast majority fell around the white powder circle. Sara was staring at them in an odd, persistent way as if to motivate this wall to action. Irrespective whether it was her doing, the energy from the remnants of the protective barrier started the ignition.

Blindingly bright, almost white tongues of fire appeared before Szayelaporro at the moment when he wanted to move on. Taken aback by surprise, he glanced from side to side, but the cold flames were dancing around him, cutting off his way. Circle of fire tightened, holding the Espada in the merciless grip until the fire swept upwards, digesting everything, which was within the reach. Sara did not hear her adversary's cry, which could mean, among other things, that he was burned alive. Unfortunately, this theory was soon revealed as too optimistic. More likely it was rather him not wanting her to hear his howling in pain or that he was able to reduce the damage sustained by fire.

She remained fully focused as the flames were dying down, along with the white fuel. The Espada's figure emerging from behind the burning out fire and a cloud of greyish smoke didn't confirm any of the initial hypotheses. Singed, half-charred clothing revealed pale skin with no visible damage except mild burns.

Just after he stepped over the still smoking circle, he was faced with another surprise. A probe floating low near the floor next to him, again flashed red, spreading force field in a small radius. The range of the device was sufficient to enclose the Espada in a rust-coloured sphere. At the same time, when Szayelaporro swung zanpakuto to crack the barrier open, Sara scattered the contents of the jar with white powder. Almost instantly, she pulled away and shielded herself with hands, but the shock wave of explosions did not reach her.

The same manoeuvre was repeated with the arrancar's next step, reducing the distance between him and Sara. Before he hit the force field, he aimed the blow as if in slow motion, which seemed very odd and completely out of place, because Szayelaporro's target was obvious. Sara was observing him closely with increased caution. She also had a quick glance at the scarlet barrier, noticing her reflection on the glowing surface. She was shocked with her absolute fierce expression and cruelty piercing through her eyes.

A third explosion was detonated around the Espada's heart and completely wiped out the upper part of his uniform. Frayed hakama, burnt by falling debris, bared his black, knee-high boots, untouched by the explosions. Based on these as well on less evident symptoms Sara assessed, however, that her attacks caused the desired effect.

Szayelaporro was getting weaker. And although he tried to disguise it by not moving too vigorously, slightly stooped figure and heavy breathing evidenced otherwise. He remained calm despite the injuries, which was alarming. She remembered how easy was it to get him upset with unexpected insults and blows. She witnessed how he lost himself and it was genuine, absolutely terrifying frenzy.

He could be prepared for the attack, in the sense that he created around himself a protective cocoon, absorbing the destructive force of the explosion. But her repertoire was not limited to one, already overused manoeuvre. She pressed one of the buttons on the remote control. Two probes floated upwards, now being the only thing between Sara and her opponent. Emergency lighting was flashing fiery red and its reflections shaded the Espada's exposed forearms like an eccentric robe.

"Is that all?" he asked provocatively "I know how these devices operate as well as my own body. You won't kill me blinking lights, and I can't imagine anything more deadly that you could pack into these primitive probes."

"You are boring" she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "If you want to scare or offend me, show more commitment to it."

He grinned, exposing teeth.

"Then I'll use simple words: you won't hurt me using my own technology. And when the batteries powering your toys are exhausted, you will moan and beg me to finish with you quickly… this time."

Despite the obvious innuendo, she didn't look embarrassed.

"I don't recall I've ever begged you for anything."

Moving in a deliberately careless manner, so that her opponent could see every single action, she released the grip on the remote control. Flying spheres stopped flashing and their alarm beeps were turned off. They plummeted to the floor, stopping literally a few centimetres above the tiles. A metallic clang announced something was happening, while the louder sounds that followed, were very similar to the hammer drill.

Szayelaporro's smile disappeared from his face as soon as he realized that two very large drills were making their way through the floor of his laboratory. He instantly analysed their parameters, route and the damage they could cause. Upon realizing what was located underneath and the real purpose of this move, he looked at Sara fearfully.

"Do you think you can win, idiot?"

"The challenge of analysts is won by the one who has more information in their possession. If I destroy what you've learned so far and make you lose all of your research material, the victory will be mine."

"How long have you been working on this conclusion?" he asked bitterly

She ignored the question.

"I also need to add that I don't know how to stop the drills..."

"But I know," he unceremoniously interrupted her, taking the remote control from her hand and opening the lid.

Curious, Sara watched him, as Szayelaporro was standing next to her, tearing the mechanism apart, and changing the connections between cables as thin as a silk thread. He was so fast that she barely registered when he took out a micro-circuit plate and put it in his pocket. After sealing the remote control back and re-activating the device, irritating drilling noises ceased.

"Who's boring now, señorita Morgenstern?" He asked, appraising her scornful gaze behind narrowed eyelids "Now, I feel it is my duty to warn you before reaching into your pocket, even if you just want to powder your nose. I may react very angrily and, for example, cut off your arm. I guess you don't want it, do you?"

Sara took a deep breath, but in a closed, confined space, where a burnt smell was upon her, this didn't bring any relief.

"You predicted the assumptions of my plan" she said accusingly.

"And one of these assumptions was to guess what's on your mind and diving in your nonsense, falling into each of those annoying traps," he replied. "On a side note, the same was the idea behind my method to reach you. On this basis, I consider that we're even."

"What?"

"Which part of this sentence you don't understand?" he asked teasingly "We can put it this way, it is a tie. You won't face the consequences of your insubordination and attempts to mock me. In return, take your hand off another deadly weapon you prepared for me, let me heal my wounds and continue your work for me."

She was utterly shocked, and due fatigue and stress, she stopped pretending to be unaffected.

"What are you hoping for?" she said sharply, frowning from intense thinking

He laughed softly.

"Your plot against Aizen was brilliant from start to finish," he presented his trademark, a convoluted way of answering. "You've suggested him that as a human you are not threatened by the shinigami. In case you have to rule the human world with our support, you'll gain complete immunity. Soul Society would have no right to dethrone you, as long as you are kept alive. Should they come up with an idea to capture and torture you, the risk of riots or restricting their activities would surely materialize. It is so simple and yet so effective, like this compound including potassium nitrate, which ignites when treated with thermal energy."

He looked straight into her face, and for better results, following the examples of the best orators, he held out his hand in an inviting gesture.

"Your mind is fascinating" he said earnestly, and his eyes sparkled. "I haven't met any human who would inspire me as you do. You're simply extraordinary. When faced with an Espada, every person in your shoes would beg me to save his petty life. And looking at you right now, I can see only determination and cold calculation. You anticipate my moves and assess the odds, modifying your modus operandi on that basis. You don't waste your strength on unnecessary steps, and your preparation and planning skills are at a much higher level than the Arrancar Army," he smiled to himself. "Action, reaction and limited precognition."

Sara was still cautiously watching his moves, including the somewhat theatrical gestures, contrasting with what he was saying. She felt uncomfortable listening to his praise, knowing that something dramatic was approaching.

"Studying your skills in real-time is much more interesting than slicing you on the operating table. And if the Arrancar Army integrates your fighting style with ours, we could reduce losses and energy expenditure on more advanced techniques. That's why I want you to remain in Las Noches alive and work for me. Of course, don't think that your rebellious attitude will be forgiven without any consequences..." she had the impression that his gaze was piercing her "but if your work is progressing well, I'm inclined to make concessions and compromises. Anyway," he grinned "your stubbornness and tendency to dominate others is sometimes devilishly seductive."

He put the remote control on the countertop and headed for the exit.

"I'll try to improve the ventilation here, so it won't stink anymore," he said as a good-bye.

His footsteps, receding slowly were the most pleasant sound she heard that day.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter XVIII

Sleep did not clear Sara's anxiety and fear. Admittedly, Szayelaporro seemed to be delighted with her little show on the previous day, but this did not mean he wouldn't try to take revenge on her.

Alternatively, he would demonstrate that all resistance is futile, and her slight success was a coincidence. Moreover, in a twisted way he made her understand that he would strike those close to her to make her obey. When she thought about the Espada's arsenal to torment her relatives and friends, she could no longer hold back the tears.

 _My parents... They are the most vulnerable. They don't have any supernatural abilities, and they are too old to work in the laboratory. This bastard would torment them to get what he wants from me... and then, he'll feed them to the Octava Fraccion. And he'll make me watching this._

She cried quietly, pressing her face into the pillow.

She got up early in the morning, knowing that she wouldn't get much sleep this night. She put on heavier than usual makeup to conceal it was not one of her best days. A situation required deceiving everyone around, including herself, in order to continue the necessary work.

 _I need to work out this portal. This is my only chance to return home. Time is working against me, so I have to act quickly. Nobody knows what kind of a sick idea might appeal to this psycho... and I don't want to wait for him to bring another Armageddon on me._

Sara stepped over the threshold of the workspace in gloomy mood. She nearly stumbled, seeing Szayelaporro nonchalantly leaning on the countertop, staring at her with amusement.

"Hello" he said, adjusting glasses.

"Good morning" she answered politely.

She had a question what brought him here at the end of her tongue, but she came to the conclusion that ignoring him completely might have ceased unavoidable beating about the bush. While treating the Espada as though he was a piece of furniture, she began preparations for the work to be done. She glanced at the tablet and opened a notes application, and then turned on the other devices to be used during today's analysis. Her guest was not given a moment of attention, instead she was sliding her finger across the screen, scrolling the list and checking, which metals would be subject to further tests. Her aim was to shortlist the best energy carriers.

"You are in a bad shape," he said after a long pause, breaking the silence. "Your eyes are swollen, as if you've been crying for a long time."

She turned for a moment in his direction, then quickly returned to view the contents of the drawer with the samples of the substances.

"I wonder what could be the reason?" she feigned the irony very poorly "Now that you've found out you gave me a hard time yesterday, can you get out of here? You are interrupting my work, and I have a quite detailed plan for today."

"Are you going to work now?"

The question was innocent, but Sara was sensing a trap in every single word spoken by the Espada.

"That's right" she said indifferently. "I set a pretty tight schedule for today and don't have time for idle chat."

Staring at the tablet, she input a sequence of commands for one of the probes. Despite a subtle remark that Szayelaporro should have left, preferably as soon as possible, not only did he move, but it didn't look like an end of their conversation, either.

"Your attitude impressed me."

She started listening carefully, expecting some kind of riddle or a bad joke.

"During our yesterday's clashes," he went on "you were not scared. You didn't try to overcome panic seizing you, as often happened before. You were very confident, like you had full control over the situation, although you perfectly realized that you can't win against me, and took a lot of risk. It could be the last day of your life. In addition, I thought that you've become completely broken after what you've heard from me. I expected you inflicting random blows, making yourself open to my counterattack."

She frowned, hearing this summary, as it was difficult to clearly determine whether it was made of offensive compliments or camouflaged critique.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked, not looking at him

"I'm trying to understand where is the source of the strength you presented yesterday... and not just yesterday. You are driven by a precisely set goal to return home, but it can't be the only factor. Have you been so strongly imbued with the desire for revenge on me? Did you want to kill me, no matter the cost?"

She put the tablet aside. Regardless of whether these enigmatic questions led to any hidden purpose, or the Espada simply wanted to make fun of her, he wouldn't let himself be dismissed easily. Finally, she abandoned the work for a while and turned her attention to her guest.

"If you are interested in seeing things from my perspective, I'm not motivated by revenge. I'm not so petty to any of my enemies - and I have a whole list of them, just like everyone - so I usually don't retaliate as I don't like to spread myself too thin. To answer your question, what gives me strength, you somehow found the reason. I want to go home, because I have something to return to. I am a respected specialist, pursuing my professional career, and soon I'm going to get married with my boyfriend."

Even if the answer was not the one which he expected, he didn't appear confrontational.

"I think I understand. It is all about this... Ernest Redmund? The information concerning him pushed you to attack, despite the fact that you've very quickly figured out it's not true."

Sara looked away. She didn't like to talk about her feelings, especially about the deepest, the most intimate ones, in addition having a hollow as the interlocutor.

"About him, too" she admitted. "But he's not the only important person in my life. My friends... my family... I have an older brother, just like you. My brother is a scientist-" she paused, as if she realized that could have been an information leak and drifted on a related topic. "Isn't Yylfordt someone special for you?"

She was hoping to distract the Espada from the person she inadvertently mentioned. Her brother was a quantum physicist and potentially could be very valuable as a prisoner. Faced with Aleksander, Szayelaporro undoubtedly would have to change his methods of persuasion, however, what Sara was afraid the most, was any contact between them. They could probably get along and agree on terms of cooperation.

 _Alex could like this,_ she thought with a hint of fear, but also very rationally and objectively. _He would enjoy solitude here, wouldn't need to go through those simple, degrading activities like shopping, cooking or cleaning, he would have modern equipment and unlimited experimental subjects at his disposal. And if that bastard introduced him to an obedient, female arrancar, it would be a paradise._

"You forget that I previously lived as a human," he almost spat this sentence. "Hollows usually don't remember what they experienced in a previous life, and I'm no different. However, as a human I was keeping a journal. Yylfordt was really my brother. Based on the records, I concluded that he was a soldier, commander of the squadron, and I was an alchemist. Despite the completely different professions, we supported each other. This continued after we became hollows, and later, arrancar."

"So Yylfordt gets information for you?"

"Is it so extraordinary? Officially, he's Grimmjow's subordinate and I can't engage him in my own initiatives. At least, not directly."

"He seems to be not so bright. Even if he manages to track something down on his own, he can be fooled by false appearances or alter an important detail. On the other hand, you seem to trust him with your life, which is..." she was thinking of an appropriate adjective "...inexplicable."

"I know him really well, and I say this with absolute confidence," his voice was far from confirming this statement, as he sounded kindly, but emotionlessly. "At some point in time, we were even one flesh."

She looked at him doubtfully, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Are you twins?" she finally asked

"Not at all. I'm younger," he smirked. "But it's a good guess. Keep trying."

"Have you been buried in one grave?" she kept speculating "Were your organs transplanted?"

He shook his head.

"Your ideas are interesting, but terribly conventional. You take into account only the most obvious solutions, rather than looking further, considering the other details and thinking outside the box, about the possibilities hidden under the surface... In other words, you think like a human, which you should stop."

"By thinking as a human does, I see a greater range of causes and effects. I can look deeper into individual motivations and feelings, which is something you can't comprehend using just the five senses."

He looked at her sceptically.

"Human emotions lead to the destruction of your species. Your life drive, libido changes into destrudo in a fraction of a second. Because of just several words I spoke, you forgot about what you've created here and almost ruined the time and effort devoted to your work so far."

"I don't agree with you" she said firmly. "Dealing with emotions does not mean total numbness."

"But this involves making a significant effort" he countered quickly. "And you often emphasize that you prefer simple solutions."

"Because it is not difficult... especially for someone talented, of course," she corrected herself. "And you? Have you ever wondered about the motivations of the other officers from your squad? Have you ever used such advantage to convince them to your ideas?"

"Should I?"

"Weeell..." she hesitated "I assume it's not so simple to achieve whatever you want just by delegating some of your tasks and responsibilities. Also, there are seven Las Espadas stronger than you... at least, theoretically."

"And why would I need them?" He asked the question again, but his tone was sharper than before. "I have the Octava Fraccion at my disposal."

"I prefer to build bridges between people than to burn them. I also think it's beneficial to befriend others than to make everyone my enemies just because we don't get along very well. Relationships and a network of contacts are useful for doing things, which I don't want to do or can't deal with personally. This saves time, while keeping the situation under control. I also gain more communication channels, collecting the latest information."

He smiled mockingly. The exposed teeth made him look a predator.

"I'm an Espada, this is the true measure of my strength. I don't need others, but others need me... which is the essence of this 'networking' you speak of. Although I should mention," he added maliciously "how many people in your world are doing whatever you tell them, because you're pretty."

"I've never been making my career in such a way" she countered coldly.

"Certainly it's not the only determinant," she felt his eyes on her as if she were a sheep being targeted by a wolf. "However, as perhaps you remember, a couple of times you've got yourself into serious trouble and it was close for your career to be ruined. Those who helped you appreciated your usefulness to the organization, but were not involved in financial reporting. As you are probably aware, one of these gentlemen didn't have access to the budgets, sales and so on..."

Although it should be exactly the opposite, Sara felt backed into a corner. She firstly asked Szayelaporro a question, which would allow her to understand the network of relationships in Hueco Mundo and find allies who could support her cause. Unfortunately, the only result of this dialogue was that the Espada made her feel uncomfortable with the topic she started. She was sure about getting no answers, even after careful steering their conversation.

"I understand that's a compliment," she said at last. "Thank you, that's nice."

"You can understand it however you like," he said in a tone as if he thought her to be mentally deranged.

Szayelaporro must have thought that his eyes were safely hidden behind a mask, but they gave away a lot. Sara could sense his satisfaction in a plan set in motion and... relief.

"What is the deadline for the next report?"

When the alarm went off, Sara was on the edge of her seat. She was in the midst of finalizing the report, or – in fact – a status update describing the progress with project _Garganta_. Szayelaporro required her to prepare short summaries not only covering milestones, but the details what she had done and the base for her conclusions. She believed it was a nuisance, although reluctantly she found added value in having record of her work in writing as it helped her to organize her thoughts. She also had an insight into the project lifecycle. If some of her ideas turned out to be incorrect, she could analyze why.

A siren pulled her away from the world of theories about travel in time and space, and destroyed the vision that Sara had before her eyes just a second ago. Since the howling wouldn't end soon, she quickly put down two bullet points to investigate later, saved the file and switched to the IM window. She was about to write a message, but then she changed her mind and selected the phone call button.

To her surprise, the Espada answered on the first ring.

"Good morning," he said politely.

"What's with the alarm?" she asked in a straightforward manner

It was almost certain that she heard a sigh on the other side.

"Oh, it's... a routine safeguard in case of intrusion. A guest without a proper invitation appeared in the laboratory. Yes, the cameras show one person who just broke into the air-lock."

"And?" she urged "Is this guest going to mess around here until we've gone insane of that damned howling? It drives me absolute nuts. I can't work."

The caller laughed softly.

 _Probably he stepped away from the microphone. I can't believe this guy can sound quieter than a caveman._

"Soon, I'll turn off the alarm. I activated it to scare off the _invasor_ , but apparently this particular insurgent is resistant to obvious messages. I've dispatched the Octava Fraccion to neutralize them. I'm going there in person as well, and if you're so interested in this, you may join me."

"Lo has conseguido," she said without hesitation. "I know where the air-lock is and how to get there. I will be there soon. We'll meet there, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded, although she could sense a note of uncertainty in his voice.

Sara guessed that he expected refusal, which amused her. She hung up quickly, and taking the essential iPhone with her, she opened a passage to the great hall (also known as the air-lock) and took a deep breath before entering the dark tunnel.

Her high spirits from a few seconds ago were being replaced by doubts whether she could handle the confrontation with an intruder. She made an assumption that the Octava Fraccion would support her, but perhaps it was taken too hastily and therefore, it was far too optimistic.

 _Whatever. It's too late now. Dice are already cast._

After the alarm threw her off balance, she didn't want to go back to the analytical work. She preferred to look at this unexpected case, especially that it reminded her of another occasion when Szayelaporro mentioned having a company. There was a fight... and in the end, she didn't get any details about the mysterious prisoner. Now she could check this herself.

She stepped over the threshold of the air-lock. Though having cold feet, in her wildest dreams she didn't expect to witness such pandemonium. Even stranger was the fact that the main source of confusion was not an intruder, but the Octava Fraccion taking their master's orders too literally. A large group of Szayelaporro's arrancar gathered in a circle, surrounding someone who at that moment could not be seen.

Lumina and Verona were the noisiest. They were tossing an object, while constantly changing their minds whether they wanted to applaud each other or argue over ownership of this mysterious item. Other arrancars were growling and muttering threats, repeating the same words numerous times, putting the patience of an innocent passer-by to a serious test. Although the alarm had already been turned off, the air-lock seemed as loud as a beehive.

"Como están los perros?"

This question did not make logical sense in the context it was asked. Sara, however, realized that she didn't need to say anything meaningful in order to establish rapport with the Octava Fraccion. The modified arrancar created by Szayelaporro communicated mainly by grunts and exclamations. Skilful reading of their mangled speech and responding in the right way was similar to interpreting the body language of animals.

Intonation and gestures were also important. She had to demonstrate them who was in change, but also to be careful about the eye contact. A dominant arrancar may feel challenged by direct stare and a submissive one can be intimidated with the eyes.

Sara approached the gathering of hollows with a view to making a dramatic entrée.

"Atención," she reiterated her order, but louder and more aggressively.

The Octava Fraccion fell silent, apparently not knowing how to respond to her exclamations, but their interest in the enigmatic intruder did not cease. Sara freely passed between them, to finally figure out who it was.

Much to her surprise, the uninvited guest turned out to be Szayelaporro's 'brother'. Yylfordt Granz was watching the arrancar around him with aversion, and his right hand again and again wandered towards the katana tucked in his belt. The reason for not grabbing zanpakuto right away had to be his certainty about Octava Fraccion not attacking him first. Szayelaporro was not so desperate to punish his brother at all costs for undertaking initiative.

"¡Cállate!" shouted Sara "¡Para!"

She clapped her hands, and in the same second, the Octava Fraccion froze motionless. It was quite a sight, since some of them paused with one leg up in the air, or with grotesquely outstretched arms.

"Descansen," she mercifully ordered after a while. "Hold your positions."

She came closer to Yylfordt, who was collecting his jaw from the floor.

"Eres ahora la jefa?" he asked

Finally he straightened and brushed off his uniform from the imaginary dust. Yylfordt said it quite conversationally, in an almost friendly tone. He was watching her with interest, and what was more, he didn't seem to be hostile, which encouraged her to go ahead with her plan.

 _At the beginning I presumed I need allies to return home. Yylfordt Granz may not be the perfect candidate, because he isn't particularly powerful or intelligent. On the other hand, he might be willing to help me, which is his advantage over many of his buddies. I'm not sure if it will work. But I'll regret not trying._

"Sí," she confirmed with a smile. "I became a kind of a leader of the Octava Fraccion. ¿Cómo estás?"

He grinned cheerfully.

"Más o menos. It could be better, although you are like divine gift to me. I thought that for the rest of the day I will stare at those long faces..." he frowned, glancing pointedly at the arrancars surrounding them. "What are you doing here, by the way? Since my brother sent you, it's probably because of those ravens and flies, isn't it?"

Despite the fact she didn't have faintest idea what Yylfordt was talking about, the woman nodded approvingly. The blond arrancar implied it was something important, hence, it was an imperative to get more details.

"When your brother told me about it, I wasn't interested in this topic at all," she said, trying to sound dull. "But maybe you can tell me a more compelling story?"

"Well, I don't know," he said with a troubled expression on his face. He seemed to become a little suspicious. "I've never got high after messing with guts."

At this point he suddenly cut his speech off, noticing something appeared behind Sara. When she turned back, it occurred that Szayelaporro entered the room, apparently using one of the hidden passages. He looked as if he was angry and clumsily tried to hide it.

"Yylfordt!" He exclaimed in great anger. "What are you doing?"

"Everyone says you're smarter than me, and you ask such stupid questions. Can't you see what I'm doing? I'm coming onto your girl, that's what. Can you kindly bugger off? We've been having a nice time without you-"

The scientist's eyes narrowed dangerously. It could be questioned what contributed to his annoyance more - ignoring his questions, or insinuation that a human woman became his partner, making her equal to an arrancar.

"As far as I know, you've got a business to me, not the other way around" he said coldly. "My suggestion is that you could at least try to explain what you're doing here before you'll get thrown out from my lab."

"Chill out, bro. I brought a gift for you. I packed one of these dead birds to go, so you can play with it."

Lumina and Verona were tossing a transparent container with a black bird, bouncing it as if it was a volleyball. Running from one point to another, they were stamping loudly, waving their arms and screaming, as though it could help them in this exercise.

"Leave the package," Szayelaporro ordered them. "It's meant for me."

Clumsy hollows literally retreated, not touching the container anymore as if it was burning. Everyone was motionless, staring intently as Yylfordt's consignment landed on the floor with a loud crash, and the packaging broken to smithereens.

"What a shame..." said the Espada. "I'm afraid you'll have to provide me with additional material for testing."

Yylfordt turned angrily towards his brother, and then grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him vigorously.

"You bastard! You did it on purpose!"

The scientist looked at him coldly. Lumina and Verona burst into screams, and the rest of the hollows was giving threatening growl. All of them, however, stood perfectly still, as if glued to the floor by Sara's order. Both Granzes completely ignored the turmoil around them.

"I think you forget yourself, brother. A second-class Numero attacking an Espada? Besides, look around and check my back-up..."

"I don't care! This time, I'll give you a hard time! I sweat all day like a fool, to find you bodies to dig your fingers into, and you treat me like shit! But it's over. I've just unsubscribed from this business. Find yourself another sucker as an errand boy. I'm just curious how you'll do it, if you're stuck here forever, sitting all days with your ass on the chair."

Szayelaporro did not care about this speech in the slightest.

"Are you suggesting that I should stand on a chair?" he asked dryly

"Stop it, both of you!" Sara shouted, at the same time trying to calm down the Octava Fraccion "Something is happening-"

Although it looked as if her words prompted the fair-haired arrancar to stop the attack, even without her warning he could feel energy levels rising. The bird, seemingly dead, loaded into a sealed container, flapped its wings and flew high. Then it turned out this was not a raven, as the creature was much smaller and looked rather like a crow. When the crow soared into the air, its outlines were gradually blurring, and the rest of its body became transparent until it finally disappeared. A few feathers lost in flight fell on the floor, blurring into oblivion.

There was no signal, nor any command, but as if driven by an unnatural prowess both Sara and Szayelaporro walked hastily to where the crow was, and crouched to look at the traces on the floor.

"Yylfordt, as usual, found a piece of crap," the scientist commented, smiling grittily to the other arrancar. "This bird hasn't been properly neutralized. It must have been in stasis, which fooled my short-sighted brother."

Granz Senior stood still with his arms crossed on his chest, and pretended not to hear that.

"There is another interesting thing about it," Sara said, scanning the energy readings using her iPhone. "You need a lot of energy to activate a phasing process. I suppose someone has charged this crow in a way that we charge a battery."

The scientist was looking carefully at the place where the bird laid just a moment ago. His eyes gleamed, and, after Sara making her remark, he became even more excited.

"That sounds likely. The hollow crow of such a low class is not particularly smart and whatever it was equipped with, it is certainly due someone else's doing. Also, you'll want to pay attention to unusual appearance of the broken glass" he pointed these with gloved finger. "If something breaks by falling on a hard surface, shards are shaped differently."

"Yes, it looks like the impact was made from the inside."

"It's incredible, but you're right..."

"Also, what shattered the container to pieces was not the clash with the floor, but the implosion of the bird's _reiatsu_!"

Although any other evidence of the existence of the captured crow disappeared, both the human and the arrancar were standing still as if bound by a spell. Their attention was gradually moving from disappearing energy readings to each other. They got up while maintaining eye contact. From a random passer-by's point of view, it might have looked like an intoxication.

"Am I disturbing?" Yylfordt asked wryly, looking at them sceptically "You look heartbreakingly together, but we've got more important things on us."

"This one time, I admit you are right, brother," said Szayelaporro viciously. "You are disturbing us."

The other man raised his eyebrows dangerously.

"Goddamn wiseass!" he exploded. "A nerd, who can't fight properly, acting all high and prissy and shit-"

Granz Junior smiled indulgently and interrupted him:

"Better try to get some new evidence that may be useful for investigation. So far, you've contributed very poorly, instead hosting a forum of dubious quality."

The blond said something in Spanish. Sara didn't understood it fully, but the intonation suggested these are not nice words. His brother laughed in response. She came to the conclusion that they both had to be aware of the difference in their ranks, so she could hope this would end up peacefully. Peacefully meaning no more than harmless sneering and mild sarcasm.

"Thank you for your concern, I will follow your advice," Szayelaporro said between bursts of laughter. "I recommend you the same. However, unlike you, I won't be alone. My companion is a beautiful woman, while you have only an old-fashioned hand-"

"I'm not talking to you" he wagged a finger at him, then turned to Sara: "Do something with him, jefa, before he starts acting like a celebrity. If it goes on, someone or something will swallow him. Who knows, it might even be me."

"Dream on, Quince" called the Octava Espada after his brother.

Yylfordt hurried away, but judging by Szayelaporro's malicious grin, the scientist had to be convinced that the blond heard his last words.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter XIX

After Yylfordt left the laboratory, Szayelaporro dismissed Sara as well as the group of the fraccion, and disappeared somewhere. Despite the playful innuendo about how he intended to spend the next hours, he left her alone without saying anything in this respect.

Sara didn't contemplate a moment over his mood swings and got back to work. While she could still recall what happened a while ago, summarize the conclusions made by herself and the Espada, while the energy readings saved in the iPhone application were not automatically deleted, there was no time to waste. She made a brave attempt to reconstruct the full course of events. Something was amiss there, and what was more, she wanted to dig into the matter to satisfy her own curiosity.

When she brought the most important information together in a well-structured form, she walked out of her quarters to look for Szayelaporro.

Judging by his triumphant smile, he knew why she came to see him, but probably wanted to play dumb for fun and greeted her with the following:

"That's very noble of you to stand up for my incompetent brother... but it's all that I have to say on this topic. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Come on," she bristled at his irrelevant remarks. "I'm not here because of Yylfordt, although I believe you shouldn't push him around, taking your everlasting revenge for him following Grimmjow. You can't blame him for joining someone stronger. It's somewhat logical. If you were in his shoes, you would do the same thing, and besides-"

"I'm not in the mood for preaching," he said sharply. "Get to the point, woman. I'm busy."

Seeming slightly offended, she gave him the tablet, pressing it into his hands.

"Take a look at this."

After reviewing the analysis, he nodded his head appreciatively.

"Impressive," he assessed. "I admit that I expected a lot from you, but you start to exceed my wildest expectations. To have the facts right... we've first sensed a sudden increase of energy levels. Then, we witnessed how the crow released itself from a sealed container. Thus, the outburst of _reiatsu_ was a side effect of the hollow's transformation?"

She confirmed.

"Energy activating the process was supplied from inside of this hollow," she explained. "We can therefore presume it's one of its abilities, although I haven't seen enough to be a hundred percent sure what exactly these are. That's why I prepared a list of hypotheses that came to my mind."

"All of them are possible," he said, frowning and staring at a list of several bullets. "One way or another, is a solid base for future research."

He put the tablet aside, then moved his attention to her.

"Work done in a perfect way deserves a bonus, right? Ask whatever you want, of course, within reasonable limits. Your journey to the human world does not fall within the said limits."

Her first impulse was to politely refuse, being afraid of another nasty trick. After a short deliberation, Sara recognized a great opportunity to conduct her own test on Szayelaporro. After all, she had nothing to lose, except for turning this generous offer into a joke.

She was pondering carefully on her wish. It better wouldn't be anything too personal or too unimportant (request for a dress probably would be laughed at), it couldn't be - in accordance with the disclaimer – her return home. If there were other humans held in the lab, she could try to negotiate freedom for them... but there was no one who could benefit from such wish.

Then a revolutionary idea flashed across her mind.

The woman noticed the emphasis on the word 'your.' She was sure there was an important nuance behind it. She had to focus intensively to find out what it could involve. She searched her memory for their last conversations, trying to recall any significant references or other vital hints.

The fact that she was convinced there weren't any other people in the laboratory... shouldn't be the truth. Sixth sense told her that someone she knows might be nearby. Only in such case the Espada's provocation would make any sense.

 _I don't think it's about Anna or Liwia,_ she was calculating in mind. _None of them is engaged in research or technology. However, there is one more person, whom Szayelaporro could connect with me. And he might be interested in this person even more than in me._

She took a deep breath. After some deliberations, she decided to play _va banque_ and said decisively:

"My brother, Aleksander Morgenstern, will be sent back to the human world. You'll terminate your contract with him and won't bother him anymore."

He shrugged, but for a mere second she saw approval on his face. This meant she was not mistaken, and her words were being confirmed.

"You won't help him this way."

"Do you think I'll help him by agreeing to his transformation into a hollow?" she asked icily

"He currently lives like a hollow, suspended between death and human existence," he corrected her gently. "Formal change of his status won't mean anything in practical terms."

"I'm aware of that," she interrupted him. "And yes, most likely you are right. But your suggestion is not a solution. Alex has to learn to live in a society."

"Is the fact that he didn't succeed so far not the inevitable clue?"

"I won't change my mind," she stated firmly, "and certainly I wouldn't wish Alex living in seclusion, being tortured and treacherously manipulated."

"I wouldn't even dare to offer him one of the things you've just mentioned! What awaits him in Las Noches, is fascinating work on favourable terms, unlimited access to modern technologies, unprecedented opportunity to learn," his voice was resembling a telemarketer persuading a customer to buy another vacuum cleaner, "and meeting beautiful women who never suffer from a headache. None of you are going to be disturbed. My lab is much larger than you think. There's a strong possibility that you'll never meet, despite staying in the same place."

"Why would I avoid meeting with my own brother?"

"Because you are worried about his reaction if he sees us together," he guessed correctly, but Sara would never admit that. "It doesn't have to happen. He doesn't need to know what is between us, in case it bothers you. Although I was tempted to show him our recordings, he is even more self-centred than you. Probably he'd miss the fact that you are the main character of the show and would be just looking for inspirations for his new acquaintance... which you also guessed, didn't you?"

She nodded. It was too painful and too personal topic for her to say anything aloud. Her relationship with Aleksander was far from stormy, it could be described as healthy, or a bit better than that. As children, they were very close to each other. Her three years older brother was her guide during their infancy. It was him who made her interested in the areas less common for women, such as the military history or computer games. Sometimes she even played football with him and his friends, but she never liked this sport fully.

However, over time, something between them started to rot. It would have been easier to be fixed if they had quarrelled, but there was no conflict. There were indeed arguments, but none of them was serious, furthermore none of them touched the essence of the problem, which was growing apart. Even before he moved out from their parents, they had less and less in common. There were even days when they exchanged only a couple of words, and over the years this trend has progressed. No less important reason was that Sara's brother sometimes frightened her. As a rule, he was quiet, introverted, almost withdrawn, though not without compassion. He used to engage in charity and regularly supported two foundations helping children in difficult situation. But there were moments when he was emotionless, not accepting standpoints different than his, and ruthlessly exploiting those weaker than him.

Surely, Sara was not a saint, either, and both in her professional and private lives she was repeatedly making tough decisions. She was fully aware that everyone has their dark side. But Alexander in his worst moments behaved as if he was deprived of humanity. He reminded her of a typical results-oriented scientist, who had no respect for other beings. When she considered his cooperation with the Espada, Aleksander's dark side could help them understand each other, because Alex and Szayelaporro were identical in this regard. The fact that they were both left-handed was another thing they had in common.

"My brother is not self-centred," she argued, feeling an obligation to defend her relative. "He lives in his own world... in the world of science."

"Perhaps it is as you say, and he is not a hypersensitive, selfish asshole," he said ironically.

She snorted softly.

"A hollow psychoanalyst is trying to understand human nature."

"Don't flatter your kind, señorita Morgenstern. I don't care about humans in general, but about your brother and you. I suspect that you've been wondering why I became interested in you. Why you, among all my test subjects, are still alive."

It was undoubtedly true. She was not sure why exactly she was captured, especially since she didn't have any spiritual powers. True, she showed talent in various professional fields and knew perfectly well about her status of an expert on the labour market. However, she didn't perceive herself to be special. Unable to come to any meaningful conclusions, she finally ceased trying to answer the question 'why me?', concluding that the Espada was simply collecting some random 'samples'. And it was a pure accident that she was one of the targets.

"It was no accident," he said, as if reading her mind. "My experiments are never accidental. My surveillance is not always one hundred percent accurate, but I am able to locate the talented individuals despite the distance. You and your brother caught my attention a long time ago, and your indiscreet mention of Aleksander Morgenstern had no influence on his transfer to Las Noches. It was out of question to ignore the siblings with such a high IQ."

"We're just like many people around the world," she added. "Do you have any statistics, based on which you decide, who is capable and who is not?"

He looked at her coldly and moved to another topic.

"I find it extraordinary that you, as a younger sibling, are a leader type, while your older brother made himself content with a quiet job in a research institute. Yylfordt and I defined our roles exactly the opposite, and I think it works much better this way."

"Alex has never enjoyed being in the spotlight, or being in charge. And if you've read my CV carefully, you should know that I used to be completely different than I'm now. I wasn't born to be a leader, but I learned how to become one. Also, I don't think that the distinction of a commander versus a scientist is not so clear in case of you and your brother. Currently, Yylfordt is Grimmjow's subordinate, while you have countless legions of fraccion under your command. You are pulling the strings, steering your brother into retrieving top secret information you wouldn't obtain by just working remotely in the laboratory."

"What a brilliant deduction," he remarked ironically. "Are you suggesting that I took over my brother's role and made him almost a worthless tool?"

"I'm suggesting nothing of this sort," she replied composedly. "I'm simply stating how I see you. I wouldn't call Yylfordt your tool. Intellectually, he's certainly no match for you, but he's not overly obedient to you. Despite the lower rank, he doesn't beg for your attention or seek your approval. You act like typical siblings, which is surprising for a world full of hollows."

He shrugged, but for a single moment, lasting barely a fraction of a second she saw his shocked expression.

"Similar analyzes won't save the world, nor conquer it," he said, trying to sound indifferent. "It seems to me that we should get back to work, señorita Morgenstern."

He stood up, and she followed suit.

"What are you going to do with my brother?" she asked with a sudden rush, probably to stop him from leaving the conversation without giving the most important answer.

Szayelaporro neither spoke, nor moved. His silence added uncertainty to the already complicated situation.

"I'll grant your wish," he finally said. "Your brother has recently finished a job for me, and because he's currently unemployed, I can send him back to the human world without any drawbacks. Moreover, you are here and since you're not going anywhere soon, I may afford this merciful deed and let him go."

"Thank you," she said stiffly.

"Don't thank me now," he grinned. "I'll arrange a proper thanksgiving one evening."

After the conversation about the hollow crow and its abilities, which unexpectedly led to the topic of having siblings, Szayelaporro sent Sara a thesis prepared by Aleksander while he was imprisoned in the laboratory. It covered the analysis of the properties of various metal alloys used by humans as well as the ones found only in Hueco Mundo. He asked her for an opinion about her brother's essay, even though it was not her area of expertise. Her knowledge about metal alloys could be at best described as smattering.

Having recognized this as some kind of malice, Sara envisaged this exercise not necessarily as the assessment of the technical details, which was impossible without source materials and re-creating the case studies. She might give feedback in terms of readability and whether the conclusions are logical. She doubted it was the Espada's point, but it seemed to her as the easiest way to deal with this problem.

When reading, her mind repeatedly wandered elsewhere and she was going through the same paragraph several times. She was not able to concentrate on the content, because she didn't fully understand what she was studying. Also, no one needed to say she was passing another test and the result must be satisfactory.

 _How I am supposed to accomplish it, since I have vague idea about the subject?_

Music coming from the laptop speakers (song about 'keelhauling that filthy landlubber'), though loud, seemed to be barely whispering in the background, drowned out by Sara's stream of thought. When her mind unexpectedly sailed in Aleksander's direction, it made her longing for return home even stronger. On the one hand, she envied her brother gaining a chance to come back to the human world, but she was also wondering how he was treated after being captured. Knowing him, either he could have become extremely isolated and wouldn't have accepted his new living conditions, or he could have overreacted and share Jason's, Mira's and Cristian's fate.

Sara looked at the paper in disgust. She couldn't have helped this feeling as her imagination was telling her stories about possible circumstances of this essay's development.

 _I wouldn't mind even an earthquake, if you would relieve me of this troublesome task._

Her wish, though not in the literal sense, was granted shortly afterwards.

Szayelaporro visited her dressed in a long, albeit light, coat with a hood in matching colour. He wore it over his usual laboratory attire. He entered the workspace in such an exaggerated manner, as if he wanted her to notice the change in his appearance. The first thing he did during this visit was to turn off the music. Probably it was another method to make a powerful presence.

"Going somewhere?" she asked in a tone modulated to tease him and show absolutely zero interest "Haven't you forgotten suntan lotion?"

He laughed happily, as if he heard a good joke.

"Thank you for your concern, but sunlight does not harm me in the slightest. And yes, I am going on a trip outside the laboratory."

"Are you going to explore the desert?" she asked sarcastically "Or is it a hunt?"

"Did you know that if you stretch a human's skin across a football field, people will call you disturbed and no one will want to be your friend anymore?"

She looked uneasy and startled.

"Most probably," she replied diplomatically. "Is this your goal?"

"I will perform work on the borderline of your and my responsibility. My intelligence sources indicated something alarming, and a few pieces of obscure pieces of information require verification in person."

It took barely two sentences to transform Sara's attitude from ostentatious boredom into genuine interest.

"I suppose it involves the crow caught by Yylfordt."

He nodded.

"Not quite. I suppose these crows in Las Noches are not exactly an innocent coincidence, and your analysis helped me in this. But don't get overly concerned over this. Your current priority is the project _Garganta_ and I'll take care of the hollow crow. Because I won't be around for a while, I have an organizational announcement to make," he paused, as if expecting fanfare. "I hereby appoint you as the person responsible for supervising the laboratory during my absence."

At first, when she just heard this nomination, she was utterly shocked, but after a moment she realized it was a chance she was waiting for, and smiled slyly.

"Does it mean that I get access to the cameras?"

He answered her with a mysterious glance.

"Why I should grant it to you?"

For a long moment, they were staring at each other haughtily, expecting that the counterparty was going to give in.

"How am I supposed to look after your lab? Surely, you don't expect me to patrol the whole area all the time, do you?"

He looked at her with amusement, thereby breaking the impasse.

"A bit of sport would do well to you. Routines that you're trying to dance, would look much better if you put more effort in maintaining graceful flow of movements, improving your lines and elevation. Sometimes you look like an elephant pretending to be a ballerina."

She bit her tongue, in order not to get provoked and to bring their conversation on the right track.

"Well, comparing to you, everyone looks fat. And since when you became a dance expert extraordinaire?"

"I'm a genius," he said shamelessly "and I know everything about every area. I don't think I should be artistically refined to be able to assess your moving."

"No worries, I'm not going to Broadway. And your Fraccion seem to like it, so let them enjoy dancing with me. By the way, why they have become so friendly? My guess is that you ordered them not to eat me, but in such case, they would simply avoided me. There wouldn't be any flattery. They wouldn't listen to my commands, either."

"Don't you know why?"

She sighed silently.

 _Again, I have to answer the question myself._

"At the beginning it seemed to me it's because I'm dressed like one of you, but there has to be something more about it," she felt uncomfortable, discussing her doubts with the enemy. "I've noticed differences in how the Octava Fraccion approach you or me, and how they interact with Yylfordt, although theoretically in their eyes, all three of us are arrancar in Aizen's army."

He shook his head.

"What you're saying is undoubtedly true, but there is a subtle difference that determines their behaviour in specific circumstances. I've mentioned it once, but I see that you didn't listen to me too closely. I can't believe you don't recall anything on this topic."

"I don't," she admitted, trying to keep calm, even though every second she was feeling more stupid. "I have no idea."

"Your genetic material," he said. "I used it supplement the Octava Fraccion created just after you were captured. Surely you can understand the implications, can't you?"

"Now, it seems logical," she said, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy. "I wouldn't guess such explanation."

"Since I resolved an issue you were interested in, let me ask you a question."

"Please go ahead."

"How exactly you get the information? When we firstly met, you were in possession of facts that are not only unavailable for public, but they are classified as top secret. Even here in Las Noches, selected directories are restricted only for the line of command... and for me. Based on what you said, I realized that you must have reviewed them. How these information came into your possession? Who provided you with the access?"

She hesitated for a moment before replying.

"I got support from a white hat, who hacked your system."

"Can you share his name with me?"

A mischievous smile crept on her lips.

"Sure I can. It was Ernest Redmund."

He gritted his teeth, revealing his true feelings. For a brief moment, she saw how uncontrollable emotions were twisting his face: anger bordering on rage as well as fear of someone stronger, who was a threat to him. Under Sara's scrutinizing gaze, he realized that he showed too much and quickly brought his perfect self back.

"I'll grant you access to the system for the purposes of ongoing monitoring," he resumed their previous topic, "but the archive will be locked. You won't be able to modify or delete anything, either."

"How did I know that you'll invent some restrictions and won't let me play with your sex tapes?" After saying a joke, she became serious. "Wherever you are going, be careful. I have a bad feeling about these crows."

"Don't worry about me, I'm a professional. And don't forget that caution, or rather extreme caution, applies also to you."


End file.
